Ancient Wonders
by Matt Cyr
Summary: "Have you ever wondered why we're called Remnant? The word usually refers to the last bit of something older and larger." Times are changing; some things of the past are now incredibly relevant to the present. These are dangerous times for team RWBY and their new friend. Times full of ancient dangers and ancient wonders, come to life once more and coming to a head at last.
1. Chapter 1 v1dot2

Chapter 1

Blake lay prone on the roof, carefully watching the snowflake-emblazoned cargo containers. This was a massive shipment of Dust. Whoever was behind the crime spree would not be able to resist a haul of this size. "Did I miss anything?" she heard from beside her as Sun landed on the roof, apples in his arms.

"Not really," Blake replied. "They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there," she said, gesturing to the containers.

"I stole you some food," Sun said as he made to hand her an apple.

"Do you always steal without a second thought?" Blake asked.

"Weren't you in a cult or something?" Sun shot back. Blake simply responded with an eloquent glare. "Okay, too soon," Sun concluded under the weight of that glare.

A whirring noise became evident as a bullhead hovered to a landing in the empty area between the containers and a warehouse. The bay door opened as the ramp lowered and a figure exited the craft. "Oh no," Blake murmured as she got a good look at the person, more specifically at the red emblem on the back of their vest-like uniform.

"That them?" Sun asked.

"Yes, it's them," she sadly confirmed.

"You really didn't think they were behind this, did you?" Sun asked as more White Fang members disembarked.

"No, I think deep down I did know. I just didn't want to be right."

"Hey! What's the holdup? We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?" rang out from the aircraft.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never take orders from a human, especially one like that," declared Blake. As she spoke she stood up, readied her weapon and jumped down to the ground.

Roman suddenly felt a cold strip of metal against his neck. "What the?" Looking out the corner of his eye, he saw a hand holding the end of the strip of metal, giving a strong indication the metal was a sword. "Oh for f-" They were suddenly surrounded by White Fang members brandishing assorted weapons. "Take it easy little lady."

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" the girl called out from behind Roman.

"Didn't you hear?" Roman replied, "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture."

"Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little operation," the girl demanded as she tightened the blade against Roman's neck.

"I wouldn't call it a little operation," he insinuated as several more transports appeared with a whirring noise. The blade fell away from his neck slightly, implying the girl was distracted. Smirking, Roman angled his cane away from himself and fired it, launching the girl away from him.

As Blake stood back up, Roman fired his cane at her several more times. She ran and rolled away to dodge, winding up behind a tower of cargo containers. A handful of White Fang members chased her as she ran. She fired several shots behind her, and could tell by a grunt that she hit someone. She continued running before she hit a dead end. The White Fang members caught up to her and raised their weapons. "Surrender, traitor!" the one in the lead growled before getting struck in the stomach by a yellow crystal. The crystal shattered, causing chain lightning to arc across the entire group of soldiers, knocking them out.

Blake looked up at the stack of crates behind her and saw someone crouched down, wearing a tan trench coat and goggles, holding some sort of assault rifle. "You alright?" they called down to her.

"I'm good, thank you." Blake paused a moment before asking, "Who are you?"

"I think Sun's in trouble," the person said, pointing to the other side of the stack of containers he was on. Blake climbed up the stack before jumping off towards the battle, not noticing the fact that the stranger knew her companion.

"He's mine!" she declared as she landed between Sun and Torchwick. She began dueling Torchwick, before Sun jumped in and took her place. In a brief time, Torchwick had pushed them both back before firing on a container suspended from a crane, causing it to fall and force Sun and Blake to break off their attack.

The stranger crouched on the cargo containers, watching the fight. This was not his battle, so he would not step in unless it started to go against his desire. He briefly prepared to jump in and help as the container fell, but both of the Faunus combatants were fine. He watched as a girl in red wielding a scythe twice her size called out from the warehouse roof before getting shot by the man in white with the hat. He briefly raised his rifle to his shoulder, preparing to fire, before another girl jumped down from the roof and began engaging the White Fang troopers. He watched in awe as the girl began swinging swords around, seemingly by telekinesis, eventually using them to fire an energy blast at two escaping bullheads, bringing them both down.

As the stranger was watching the fight, he saw the commander retreat towards a bullhead, likely to make good his escape. He quickly jumped off the stack of crates and began running to the aircraft, trying to stay out of sight. Just before he reached it, the man boarded the transport, the bay doors closed, and the aircraft took off, flying away into the darkness. He growled under his breath before returning to the main area, where the Faunus and girls had gathered, sitting on some small wooden crates as the police arrived and began examining the area.

He approached the four teens but stood in the background as they conversed, although he did not go unnoticed. The other male there recognized him and turned to speak to him. "Verdan? What are you doing here?" Sun asked.

The girl in black turned from speaking with the girl in red. "Sun? You know him?" she asked.

"Yeah, I know him. He attends Shade back in Vacuo, we were at Umbra Primary Academy together, he's a year above me though. Ladies, may I introduce to you Verdan Allen. . . Yeah, I got no description here." Verdan's expression changed from a guarded, neutral one to an angry one, glaring at Sun.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Sun lamely finished, clearly diverting from what he had originally planned to say. "So, how are you doing, Verdan? And how'd you get here?"

"Doing fine," Verdan flatly said. "As for how I got here,-" He was interrupted by a cry of "Blake!" A girl in yellow and a girl in white came around the corner and ran up to the group.

"It's not what you think Weiss, you see she doesn't wear a bow she has cat ears and they're actually kinda cute. . ." the girl in red trailed off as the girl in white, Weiss it would seem, approached the girl in black, most likely Blake. His hunch was correct as Blake began speaking.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associ-" Weiss interrupted her quickly, holding a hand in front of Blake.

"Stop. Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you? Twelve hours! And in that time, I've decided-" Verdan dropped back as everyone else started to look slightly tense. "I don't care! You said you're not a part of them anymore, right?"

"No, I haven't been-" Blake began before she was interrupted again. Weiss made a noise to interrupt her as she held up her hand again.

"Just promise me that next time something this big comes up, you'll come to one of us, instead of some – someone else," she finished, looking at the other Faunus present. She moved forward to hug Blake.

"Hey, where's Penny?" Ruby asked. Everyone looked around, noticing that the strange girl had disappeared, before focusing on Verdan, the other stranger present.

"Who's this?" Yang asked, gesturing to him.

"My name's Verdan Allen, I'm from Shade Academy in Vacuo." Everyone studied him for a moment, taking in his strange form of dress – a tan trenchcoat over a dark brown T-shirt and khaki cargo pants, with a bandanna in another shade of tan tied around his neck, with black goggles around his neck, resting over the bandanna. A large black rifle was slung over his shoulder.

"Hi! My name's Ruby!" the girl in red excitedly interjected. "Can I see your weapon? I'll let you see mine!" Verdan handed Ruby his weapon as everyone else was introduced.

"My name's Yang, the girl in black is Blake, the girl in white is Weiss. And the guy is. . ." Yang trailed off as the guy interjected, "I'm Sun." Verdan nodded, looking at each one as he mouthed their names to himself.

"You said you're from Shade? What are you doing here, and particularly here on this dock?" Weiss asked imperiously. Verdan looked back at Weiss.

"Officially, I'm a temporary transfer student from Shade to Beacon. Unofficially, I'm trying to track the White Fang and find their base. They're doing something out in the Great Desert by Vacuo, and I want to figure out what. I have a vested interest in their activities, for several reasons."

"The headmaster of Shade just let you transfer because of what you want do?" Blake asked skeptically.

"She's my cousin, plus there are. . . other. . . circumstances," Verdan said, yelling at the end due to an increasingly-loud whirring noise.

Everyone looked up to see a Bullhead coming in for a landing. Once it landed, the bay door opened up, revealing a less-than-happy Professor Goodwitch. "Everyone get on, we'll take you back to Beacon. Even you, Mr. Allen. Why must you always get involved in these things, Ms. Rose?" she asked rhetorically as everyone got onto the transport. Ruby returned Verdan's weapon to him as the VTOL lifted off to travel back to Beacon Academy, everyone eager to get some rest after the events of the evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _Sunday_

 _6/21_

 _9:00_

Verdan slowly became aware of the light shining directly in his face from the window. He sat up and stretched, looking around the room. It was one of the guest quarters in Beacon. Goodwitch had let him use it the previous night, after he and RWBY arrived at Beacon. It was nothing fancy, just a bed, a dresser, a desk, and three doors leading to a closet, a bathroom, and the hallway. Other than his rifle and goggles on the desk, he had nothing of his own in the room, as he had gone directly to his room the previous night, without bothering to check the mail office for his gear.

He got up and began making the bed. Just as he finished, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" he called, slinging his rifle across his back and putting his goggles around his neck. The door opened, admitting the rainbow of a team he had met last night. "Good morning Verdan!" Ruby said cheerily. "Morning," he responded, significantly more subdued than Ruby.

"We came to get you for breakfast," Yang said. "We figured you wouldn't know where the dining hall is."

"You are correct, I don't. Thank you for showing me," Verdan replied as they exited the room and began walking towards the dining hall.

"We can introduce you to our friends! They're team JNPR, they're really nice! They have cool weapons too! Nora is hyper and has a grenade launcher/hammer, Ren is pretty quiet and has a pair of machine pistols, Pyrrha is really polite and kind and has a javelin/sword/rifle and shield, and Jaune is a nice person and all he has is a sword and shield. . ." Ruby began excitedly before trailing off awkwardly at the end. "They're the only other first years that are really nice and friendly. Another team is just a bunch of bullies, and the other two teams are kinda cliquish." Ruby continued to spew sentences about the five first year teams until they reached the dining hall.

After going through the line and collecting a plate, they sat down at a table before being joined by another team. Verdan studied them, curious about this other team. He immediately recognized Pyrrha Nikos, famed champion of the Mistral Tournament. From there, it was easy to figure out who Nora was, she was the other girl, the one with turquoise eyes and orange hair. He could not figure out which boy was which, though. They both were rather quiet, focusing on their food.

"You must be Verdan Allen," Pyrrha said after they all sat down. "Ruby mentioned you last night. My name's Pyrrha, this is Jaune," here she indicated the young man sitting to her right, one wearing a hoodie and jeans with a few bits of plate armor. "This is Ren," she indicated the other young man, sitting on the far end of the group, wearing green with a pink streak of hair. "And this is Nora," she said, tilting her head to the other girl, sitting between herself and Ren. "It's nice to meet you!" she finished. "Nice to meet you as well," Verdan replied, inclining his head towards her briefly.

"Where are you from, Verdan?" Jaune asked between bites of his cereal. "I'm from Shade Academy, in Vacuo, and my hometown is a small village in the Great Vacuan Desert," Verdan replied. "I'm a temporary transfer student, officially."

"You say that as if you have another purpose here," Blake quietly input. "Would it have anything to do with the fact that you showed up at the docks last night?"

"Yes, it would. I was actually stowing away on one of the bullheads that showed up, it was coming from Vacuo to their main base before being diverted to the docks. I had to bail out when they started moving about in the cargo section." Verdan looked up for a moment, considering whether to tell them the real reason he had come. They seemed like trustworthy people, so he decided to confide in them. He nodded, before looking back at them with a more confident expression and continuing. "I'm here to find the main White Fang base. They are up to something in Vacuo, but they have no real base with any records, so I can't find out there. I decided to come to Vale in the hopes of getting to their records at their base."

"And the headmaster of Shade just _let_ you transfer, just to play detective?" Weiss asked disbelievingly. "I hardly find that believable."

"She's my cousin, so she cuts me some slack," Verdan replied, with the air of one avoiding a complete answer.

"What are the White Fang doing?" Ruby asked in a hushed tone, caught up in the mystery and drama in Verdan's tale.

"Artifact robbery. They've been hitting all sorts of collections and storage facilities, taking many relics archeology teams have discovered. They haven't hit any dig sites though, or the National Museum of History, I'm assuming because they are too well-guarded. There hasn't been any rhyme or reason to their thefts, either. They've been taking many different types of artifacts from many different times. My father's an archeologist, so I have a bit of an interest in this sort of thing. That's why I want to find out why they are doing this," Verdan finished thoughtfully.

"You said your father was an archeologist?" Pyrrha asked. "What does he do?"

"In general, he searches for ruins and excavates them, recovering any relics he can get. Currently, he is excavating the ruins of a small village. He's been trying to find anything he can to help him understand a ruin he discovered several years ago. It is a platform with a set of six spires, leaning in towards the center. There are indications that it is the tip of an underground complex, but there are no hints of any entrance, even at the platform that looks like it should be an entrance. He calls it 'The Temple', but we really have no idea what it is."

After that, the conversation fell apart into several conversations, with Verdan participating in none. He quietly ate his french toast, thinking about his eight new acquaintances before switching gears and trying to think of the best way to find the White Fang's base.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

 _Monday_

 _6/22_

 _10:34_

The elevator doors in Ozpin's office opened, revealing Verdan Allen. He walked into the room, standing in front of Ozpin's desk. "You requested me, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. Take a seat, Mr. Allen," Ozpin said, gesturing towards a chair. Verdan did so, and Ozpin continued. "I summoned you to discuss your team assignment."

"Team assignment, sir?"

"Yes. Transfers, even temporary ones like yourself, are attached to a team in order to keep the stability of their training. This is normally not necessary, as transfer students usually transfer as a team. However, in your case, you came alone, requiring your attachment to a team."

"Even though I already have a team, or at least part of a team?" Verdan asked, disliking the idea.

"Even though you already have a team. As you are well aware, the four Huntsmen academies place trainees into teams of four. It is in order to make sure they are used to working with others, while keeping the team size small enough that they remain able to fight alone. The rules require all trainees to be in a team. Broken teams like yours, you have my condolences by the way, are not required to be filled to the full complement, but individuals are required to be attached. So, now the question is where to attach you," Ozpin said, linking his hands and putting them below his chin.

"Are you sure I have to be attached to a team, sir?"

"I am positive. Now, as for the selection of a team. I have considered the options, have decided on a team. However, I will allow you to examine your options and convince me to place you with the team of your choice. Your options are teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL. Are you acquainted with these four teams, Mr. Allen?"

"Not all of them," Verdan replied, thinking back. "I don't know CRDL, but RWBY was the team I encountered Saturday evening, correct? And JNPR is the other team they are friends with?"

"You are correct. Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark are CRDL. RWBY consists of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. JNPR is made up of Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren," Ozpin answered, pulling four files out of a drawer, placing them on his desk and opening them. "Do you have a preference for your team?"

Verdan picked up one of the files, the one for team JNPR and began flipping through it, looking at the transcripts and student files of the four trainees. After a minute, he put it down and perused the file on CRDL before finishing with RWBY's file.

"I really don't care. I'm assuming you won't let me be with a team my own age and join a level 2 team?" Verdan asked sullenly.

"You are correct. The team I have selected will be good for you and help you in a way none of the 2nd year teams will. If you have no preference, then I will go with my original decision. You will be attached to team RWBY. They will be good for you, and they seem to find themselves in the situations you will be searching for." Ozpin looked to the side of his desk and pressed several buttons on his scroll. "I have linked your scroll to their team network, you will be able to find them using the homing app. Enjoy your time at Beacon, Mr. Allen."

Looking slightly sullen, and grumbling under his breath, Verdan stood up and went to the elevator, before pressing the button and getting in, pressing the button for the first floor. Once in the elevator, he pulled out his scroll and opened up the homing app. The elevator opened, releasing him into the main school building. He studied the map with the four dots on it marking his new team's position and figured out a path to take to get there quickly.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

Team RWBY was currently in the combat auditorium, for class with Professor Goodwitch. The current match, Cardin Winchester versus another 1st year team member was not a terribly exciting match. Cardin was at a clear advantage, his giant mace could easily knock away the halberd the other was using, especially with the explosions triggered with each hit of the mace. The only advantage the other fighter had was the reach of his weapon, especially with the rifle built into the bottom of the halberd's shaft. Cardin was being forced to chase his foe around the ring, until the other stumbled, allowing Cardin to close the distance and strike with his mace, reducing the other combatant's aura below a safe level, ending the match.

"And with that, the match ends. Congratulations on your win, Mr. Winchester. Ms. Davis, please remember that a purely defensive strategy will often cost you a battle," Goodwitch advised as the two fighters exited the ring to the lockers. "Enough time remains for one final match. Do we have any–" the sound of a door opening cut her off as Verdan entered the room, descending the stairs as he tried to find a seat out of the way.

"Mr. Allen!" Goodwitch called, causing Verdan to stop and look up. "Ma'am?" he answered. "We have time for one more match, and I want to test your skills so that I may know who to place you against in order to best improve you. So, if you and Ms. Nikos would retrieve your weapons and enter the ring, we may begin." Pyrrha stood up and she and Verdan both entered the locker rooms before exiting on the arena floor. "You may begin at the sound of the chime," Goodwitch said as she retreated to her observation platform.

Pyrrha and Verdan took up positions on opposite sides of their ring, raising their weapons into the ready position – Pyrrha holding Akuo in front of her, with Milo in sword form off to the side; Verdan holding his rifle up to his shoulder, ready to fire. "Go Pyrrha!" Nora yelled out excitedly as Yang waved a flag reading "JNPR" and Ruby and Jaune clapped. There was a distinct lack of cheering for Verdan, as few knew him and, while RWBY and JNPR did know him, would obviously rather support Pyrrha.

"Hey Pyrrha! You wouldn't mind letting me hit you over and over again, would you? It's excellent anger management!" Verdan called out angrily. "I'm sorry, but no. What upset you?" Pyrrha asked, striking to the heart of the issue. "Nothing you nor I have any control over, so don't worry about it!" Verdan called out, ending the brief conversation.

A chime sounded out, and Verdan immediately fired several shots at Pyrrha in a horizontal spread, intending to at least knock her off balance. She jumped to the left, allowing the shots to pass to her right. As she jumped, Verdan saw a slight flare of yellow light appear on her right hand as she jumped. He wondered if it meant she was another magnet-user and fired several more shots at her, intending to test his theory. She took them on her shield before shifting Milo into a rifle and firing shots at Verdan. He hit a switch on the handle of his rifle as he dropped to the floor.

As he dropped, the stock of his rifle shifted. The supporting brace folded against the L-bar that would normally go against Verdan's shoulder. The L-bar then folded against the beam protruding from the back of the rifle, and with the click of a disengaging latch, the entire stock assembly extended slightly from the rifle.

He rolled to his left and stood up, slinging his rifle across his back. He then reached back and grabbed the stock, pulling it off, revealing it as a sword inside the rifle. He rushed at Pyrrha, forcing her to shift Milo into a sword for better offense at close range. He swung at her left and she raised her shield up to block before stabbing at Verdan's chest. Verdan stepped back and to the right, attempting to avoid her blade. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough and the tip of the sword impacted his chest. It wasn't enough to cause any harm, but it took a slight nick out of his aura. He grimaced in anger before kicking out at her legs.

Pyrrha jumped up, letting his kick pass harmless under her. She then pushed her shield forward into Verdan, forcing him back and knocking him off balance. She pulled back several steps before throwing her shield like a Frisbee at Verdan.

Verdan watched her, or more particularly her hand, carefully as she threw her shield. The same yellow light appeared around her hand and continued to glow as her shield flew across the arena towards him. _Just one final test to confirm,_ he thought as he strafed to the side, her shield flying past him by inches. He glanced behind him and saw her shield slowing and tilting before returning in his direction like a boomerang. He tossed his sword from his right hand to his left before pivoting to allow the shield to pass to his right. As it passed, he hit down on it with his fist, causing it to drop to the floor. As he hit it, he temporarily stripped it of its magnetic field, preventing her from interacting with it if she was indeed a magnet-user. He turned to face Pyrrha, returning his sword to his right hand and saw the nimbus of yellow light dim and vanish as a shocked look briefly appeared on her face. His theory was confirmed – Pyrrha Nikos was indeed a magnet-user. _In retrospect,_ he realized, _that explains her reputation_ _as "invincible"_ _._

Verdan dashed at Pyrrha, swinging his sword in an overhead strike as reached her. Pyrrha shifted Milo into a javelin and blocked his strike with the haft of her weapon. She pushed up with her javelin, throwing Verdan's sword back before stabbing at his torso with the haft of her pole arm. Verdan stumbled back, gasping for breath. Pyrrha ran around him to her shield, crouching down to grab it and reattaching it to her vambrace.

Verdan recovered and turned to face Pyrrha just in time to see her stab at him again with her javelin. He turned to the side, attempting to allow it to pass by him. However, he was too slow and it nicked him in the side. In the brief moment as Pyrrha's thrust reached its full extension and she began to pull back, Verdan swung with his sword at the haft of the javelin. He channeled his semblance through his sword, and as it struck Milo, he reversed the polarity of its magnetic field. With a metallic "crack!" the javelin burst out of Pyrrha's hand and flew towards the wall of the arena, embedding itself in the wall several inches.

As Verdan stumbled from the explosive result of his strike, Pyrrha seized the chance and started bashing him in the head with her shield. Each strike disoriented him for precious seconds, enough time for Pyrrha to recover and thrust her shield forward again, never letting up.

All eyes turned to the aura monitors on the wall, as they saw Verdan's aura drop with every hit. From being nearly full, his aura decreased exponentially, each hit taking more aura than the previous one. It went from green to yellow to red before finally dropping to just above the white line indicating the amount of aura to remove for a victory.

Pyrrha struck one more solid blow with her shield, this time in the chest, sending Verdan flying backward several feet, causing his rifle to clatter against the floor as he fell onto his back with a bloody nose and a dazed expression.

After several seconds, he stood up and shook his head. He walked to Pyrrha and offered his hand as the spectators began applauding. "Good match, Pyrrha," he complimented her as they shook hands. "And the same for you," Pyrrha returned. "What did you do to my weapons?"

"I'll explain later in private," Verdan murmured, assuming she desired to keep her semblance on the down-low. "Would you like some help pulling your weapon out of the wall?"

"I would appreciate that, yes," Pyrrha replied to accepted his offer. They walked towards the wall and each grasped the haft of her spear. "On the count of three," Pyrrha said. "One, two, three!" When Pyrrha said three, they both pulled backwards as hard as they could, Verdan bracing a leg against the wall. With an ear-piercing shriek, they finally succeeded in pulling the javelin out of the stone wall. Pyrrha stowed her weapons and went to Professor Goodwitch's platform in order to hear her assessment. Verdan retrieved his sword from the middle of the arena floor and stowed it back in his rifle before following suit.

"A decent battle. Ms. Nikos, you allowed him to strip you of a weapon twice. That is sloppy and inexcusable, work to ensure it does not happen again. Mr. Allen, you failed to employ a variety of attacks. You have a rifle, use it. You also allowed yourself to be disoriented by your own attack. Fix that issue." Raising her voice, she finished with "Class dismissed!"

Pyrrha and Verdan turned and exited the arena into the locker rooms, depositing their weapons before appearing in the hallway outside the room, where teams RWBY and JNPR were waiting. Yang gave Pyrrha a high-five and attempted to give Verdan a high-five too. However, Verdan ignored her and stalked past her, face stormy, to where Ruby and Jaune were talking about some comic.

"Ms. Rose," Verdan growled out through gritted teeth. Ruby slightly jumped as she turned to face Verdan. "I have been ordered to report to you as a temporary member of team RWBY. Until such time as I return to my own school, I am to be regarded as a full, standard member of team RWBY," he finished. He was not happy about this decision, not happy at all, and he made no effort to conceal this fact.

"Yay! New team member!" Ruby cried, her happiness unaffected by Verdan's attitude. "This is going to be so much fun!" She grabbed Verdan's arm and began pulling him towards their next class, babbling on and on about new team attack names for new team attacks involving Verdan.

 _12:30_

With the last class of the morning over, the two teams met at the dining hall for lunch. After everyone had been eating for a moment, Pyrrha brought up the question that had been bothering her since her and Verdan's spar.

"Verdan," she began hesitantly. "About our fight this morning. . ." She trailed off, unsure of how exactly to bring it up again.

"You're wondering about your weapons, aren't you?" Verdan asked, remembering his promise to explain later. "To begin with, you're a magnet-user, aren't you?"

"A what?" Pyrrha asked.

"You're a magnet-user, one whose semblance is magnetism, the control of magnets!" Verdan explained excitedly. "That's how you are 'invincible', isn't it? You ensure that others' weapons can't even hit you!"

"I don't know what you're. . . yes, I'm a 'magnet-user' as you put it. I was always taught it was called 'polarity'." Pyrrha admitted.

"My semblance is very similar, my family calls it magnetization. I can imbue items with a magnetic field, strip a magnetic field from objects, or reverse the polarity of magnets. That's what I did to your shield, I stripped its magnetic field, leaving you unable to remotely manipulate it. Your spear, I reversed its magnetic field. I assumed you use a slight level of your semblance to keep hold of your weapons?" asked Verdan.

"Yes, I do," Pyrrha confirmed.

"That's what I thought. I decided to try reversing the polarity of the magnetic field of your weapon, thinking it would slip out of your hand more easily when I hit it. I didn't expect it to fly out with such force, though."

"How come you didn't use your rifle at all?" Ruby asked, swallowing a bite. "It's your primary weapon, why would you not use it?"

"Pyrrha's polarity made it useless. She repelled the bullets as she dodged. I couldn't strip their magnetic fields or my own weapon would be unable to fire, so I had to resort to my sword."

"What is your weapon? I can't feel any Dust in it, or at least no Dust that feels normal for a gun," Weiss inquired, glancing up from her meal at the gun across his back.

"It's a coil gun," Verdan began before being interrupted by Ruby. "Oh, a rail gun!" Verdan glared across the table at her before continuing his description. "No, it is not a rail gun. A rail gun works by feeding electricity across an item, accelerating it out the barrel. A coil gun uses magnetic fields to accelerate a projectile. Given I can give anything a magnetic field, it seemed the perfect choice. I call it Harenosum Acceletor."

"And the sword?" Jaune asked, glad to see someone else with a regular, non-transforming sword.

"I can't use Acceletor for melee fights, it would eventually knock pieces out of alignment, reducing its effectiveness and possibly causing it to backfire, blowing the lightning Dust crystal I use for power. So, I just stuck a sword down the top and adapted the hilt into a stock. I can actually shift the rifle into a handgun-like size when I use the sword, but that's about all the shifting I could make."

"Can I see your gun?" Yang asked after finishing her meal.

"Fine, but be very careful. It's heavy." Verdan unslung his rifle before handing it across the table to Yang.

"Oof!" Yang grunted as she took the rifle. "You weren't kidding about the weight!" She pulled the rifle closer to herself before turning it around, examining different parts of it. Turning to her sister, she asked "How were you able to sling this around on Saturday, Ruby?"

"It's not that much heavier than Crescent Rose. It's easy!" Ruby said, glancing at Verdan and holding her hand out to Yang for his gun. "Go ahead, Ruby," Verdan sighed, giving Ruby permission to examine his rifle again. These two teams were going to drive him crazy.

 _Monday_

 _6/22_

 _20:45_

As the time for the students to retire to their dorm room approached, Verdan visited the Beacon mail office. He had been waiting since Saturday for his gear to arrive. He had shipped it from Shade, expecting it to arrive at least at the same time as him. However, that was not the case, causing him to only have the clothes on his back and his weapon for two days. However, his luck finally turned for the better and his gear arrived. He thanked the mail officer and exited the mail office before being run into by Ruby.

"There you are! We've been looking for you! C'mon!" Ruby grabbed his hand and began dragging Verdan behind her. Verdan tried several times to stop walking and use his body weight to prevent her from pulling him, but each time he nearly fell over until he kept walking. _Man, she's strong for a fifteen-year-old!_ he complained mentally. After several minutes of effortless pulling on Ruby's end and much struggling and low cursing on Verdan's end, they finally arrived at RWBY's dorm. "Girls, I found him!" Ruby called out as she pulled him through the door, Verdan latching onto the door frame as a last resort. Yang pried his fingers off the frame and shut the door behind them. "Come on in! Welcome to your new dorm!" she said happily.

"No!" Verdan said snappily, sounding reminiscent of a little kid. "Look, I'm not happy with this situation. I can't even be assigned to a team my own age, I have to be stuck with a level 1 team! No offense, but I don't want to spend any more time with you girls than I absolutely have to. I'm certainly not going to sleep in here with you. Besides, it wouldn't be right, we're not even on the same team!" he said, sounding more mature now.

"I'm with him!" Weiss interjected from her desk. "There is no way I am sleeping in the same room as a boy, especially one I hardly know! I don't know if he is trustworthy!"

"See? Your teammate agrees with me. Now, if you need me, I'll be in my sleeping bag in the hallway." As Verdan picked up his bag and began opening toward the door, Yang reached out, put her arm around his neck, and dragged him backwards into the room, leaving Ruby to close the door as Blake and Weiss just sat by and watched.

"Sorry, but you're staying in here with us!" Yang said as Verdan choked and scrabbled at her arm, finally prying her arm off and ducking away gasping for breath. As he leaned over with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily, Yang offered, "You can share my bed!" In response, Verdan just looked up and glared at her.

Verdan stood up after a few seconds and calmly walked towards his stuff, as if to pretend he had acquiesced. As he did so, Ruby walked away from the door, believing she had earned a victory. Suddenly, Verdan dashed toward the door, clutching at the doorknob and opening the door before running out.

Yang looked at Blake. "A little help here?" Blake just sighed and shook her head before getting off her bed and running into the hallway. As she ran, she unsheathed Gambol Shroud and shifted it into throwing form. Once she was in the hallway, she saw Verdan just about to run around the corner. She threw Gambol Shroud at him to ensnare him.

Just as Verdan reached the corner, he grinned, believing that he had escaped the clutches of those crazy girls. No sooner than he finished the thought, he felt something wrap around his torso, stopping him short and forcing the air out of his lungs. Thrown off balance, he toppled backwards onto the floor. His sight was dazed from the bright light above him, the loss of breath, and the impact on the floor, but with dread he made out a three blurs above him and grabbing him: one red, one yellow, and one black. Worn out from being hit in the head many times that day and being choked twice, he conceded defeat and let Ruby, Yang and Blake drag him into their room. As he was being dragged, he saw the door to JNPR's dorm open and four pairs of eyes watching. A glare and a snarl was enough to cause the eyes to disappear and the door to close.

The three girls dragged Verdan back into their dorm, Ruby closing _and locking_ the door behind them. Blake and Yang dropped Verdan on his back in the middle of the room before drawing back to allow Ruby to come forward. Ruby crouched by Verdan's head and looked down at him. "Now, Mr. Allen," she began in a manner reminiscent of action movie villains. "As you can clearly tell, escape is impossible. Just give in, and tell us what we want to know! There is no need to extend this any longer!"

"Fnn. . ." Verdan mumbled with his arm over his eyes. "What was that, Mr. Allen?" Ruby asked, staying in character. "Fine. I will acquiesce to your stupid demands and stay in here," Verdan grumbled. "Yay!" Ruby cheered, breaking character in the rush of her victory and beginning to dance around with Yang while Blake returned to quietly sitting on her bed.

"Verdan, I apologize for my teammates," Weiss spoke up from the desk. "Just know, I am not happy about this and will be keeping an eye on you."

"I'm not happy either, and you have no need to worry," Verdan said curtly as he pulled out his sleeping bag and set it out between the wall and Blake/Yang's bunks.

After everyone had prepared for bed, the lights were turned out, and everyone was in their bed (or sleeping bag), Ruby called out, "Good night, team RWBY-Five!"

"RWBY-Five?" Blake asked, sounding bemused.

"Well, if we add Verdan's initial to our team name we get R-W-B-Y-V. V for five! It's a reference to that one space movie, you know, that guy's flight call sign was Red Five? Ruby, red, see?"

"That's great Ruby, just go to sleep," Yang said, sounding as if she was already mostly asleep.

As the four girls fell asleep, Verdan remained awake, staring into the darkness. He did not want any teammates, he wanted to complete his mission alone. Attachment to a new team would not end well. He may be ordered to be on team RWBY, but he would not like it and would avoid interaction as much as humanly possible. This resolution made, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of happier times.

 **AN: So here's the second chapter. I guess I'm reasonably committed by now. Let's see if I can keep this up, shall we? I don't have any regular schedule for this, it'll just be updated as I complete chapters.**

 **As I introduce and mention new characters and weapons, I'm going to give an explanation in the AN for the names.**

 **Verdan Allen: "Verdan" is derived from "verdant", meaning green and lush plant growth. "Allen" comes from van Allen, as in the van Allen belts, the strong magnetic belts around the earth.**

 **Harenosum Acceletor: "Harenosum" is Latin for "sandy". This has two origins, one being the fact that he has lived nearly his entire life in a small town in the desert. The other is that some of the metal used in its internals comes from a meteor that had been comprised of sandstone. This may be mentioned and explained in the story, it would just be later on. "Acceletor" is a corruption of "accelerator", referencing the fact that it basically just accelerates bits of metal to high speeds.**

 **A beta reader would be handy, by the way. Anyone available?**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you return, and God bless!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Tuesday_

 _6/23_

 _8:15_

 **TWEET!** A whistle blew, bringing Weiss to a rude awakening. "Ruby, I thought you said you were done with the stupid whistle!" she demanded angrily.

"Normally, I would be, but this is the first morning with a new teammate, so we have to start things right! And that means I bring out the whistle!" the aforementioned whistle-blower exclaimed cheerily as she held up the whistle.

Yang spoke up from her bed across the room. "Uh, I hate to rain on your parade, sis, buuuuuuuut Verdan's not here. . ." Yang trailed off as she pointed to the floor on the opposite side of her bed from Weiss and Ruby. Blake rolled over to look as Ruby dashed to the foot of their bunk bed to see for herself.

"Oh no! Where'd he go? We gotta find him, he's our teammate!" Ruby declared with worry. "Do you think he's in the dining hall? Maybe he's training? Is he in the library? This is not the right way to start the day!"

"In case it escaped your notice, we are hardly in a state to go running about the school," Weiss said. "We just woke up. We need time to get ready for the day, then we can go search for Allen. Until then, I'm sure he is fine."

"Shower's mine!" Yang called as she jumped off her bed into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Seriously, though. I want to show Verdan what it'll be like being on our team, what fun it'll be! I want this day to be one of the best ever!" Ruby said firmly.

"Don't worry, if we ever get ready for the day, I'm sure it'll go well," Blake said from beneath the pillow she held across her face to shut the light out.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

After all four of the girls were prepared for the day, they made their way to the dining hall to find Verdan. While everyone else was showering and getting ready for the day, Ruby had activated the Teamtrack app on her scroll and seen that his scroll was in the dining hall. As soon as they passed through the doors, they began scanning the room to find their new friend. Spotting a patch of tan in the midst of the bright colors that was the Beacon cafeteria, Blake began leading the team towards Verdan.

They made a quick detour through the food service line to retrieve their breakfasts before making it the rest of way to Verdan and sitting down at their teammate's table. He was sitting at the end of a nearly-empty table, reading his scroll, with a tray of empty dishes and a half-full glass of orange juice on the table in front of him. As soon as they sat down, he put his scroll in his pocket and began downing the rest of his orange juice.

"Good morning, Verdan! How'd you sleep… last… night." Ruby began happily. She trailed off as Verdan collected his empty dishes onto his tray. He stood up, grabbed the tray, and took it to the dish return line before leaving the cafeteria, all without saying a word to his new team.

"Well that was rude," Weiss voiced her thoughts. "We're supposed to be a team. Who does he think he is, snubbing us like that? There is no call for that kind of behavior. What have we ever done to him?" Yang nodded in agreement with Weiss's sentiment before giving her own two cents. "Yeah, what ticked him off?"

"Well, we _did_ nearly kidnap him last night. We practically, no we did, force him to stay in our room last night when he had clearly and vocally made known his displeasure with that arrangement. Maybe he's giving us the silent treatment for that?" Blake put forth her theory.

At that moment, team JNPR joined them for their morning meal, Pyrrha and Ren with a nice balanced breakfast, Jaune with a big bowl of cereal, and Nora with a stack of pancakes that was comparable in height to Ruby. Jaune and Nora set into their food with gusto as soon as they sat down, while Pyrrha chose to ask about Verdan first.

"We just passed Verdan coming in the cafeteria. He looked angry. Is everything okay?" Pyrrha asked concernedly.

"We're not sure," Yang answered. "As soon as we sat down, he got up and left. We were trying to think of what we may have done to anger him. About all we could think of is last night, we were trying to make him sleep in our dorm, even when he didn't want to."

"That seems kinda mean. If he doesn't want to sleep with you guys, why try to make him?" Jaune asked. "I agree with Jaune, just let him be," Pyrrha input her agreement.

"Well, he's part of our team. We need to have team bonding, become best friends, stuff like that!" Ruby exclaimed. "Part of that is he has to sleep in our dorm, even if he's only temporarily on our team."

"You still need to apologize to him. He made his thoughts on the matter quite clear, and all three of you blatantly ignored them and forced him to follow your wishes," Weiss addressed Ruby, Blake, and Yang. "As soon as we get to class, you should apologize for tackling, strangling, and essentially kidnapping him."

"Sure, Ice Queen. We'll do that," Yang said resignedly.

"I'm not sure it's just last night, actually." Blake looked up at the rest of her team before continuing. "He seemed distant during all of yesterday, not just last night. He wasn't so bad at breakfast, but it started sometime around lunch. I think last night and this morning may just be the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Ah, I'm sure he's fine," Ruby said dismissively.

With the matter dropped, they turned to other topics as they finished their breakfast, such as Nora recounting her latest dream of adventure, fame, and fortune, Ren correcting her all the while. When they finished their breakfast, they deposited their dishes before quickly traveling to Dr. Oobleck's classroom.

 ***Insert Line Break Here** *

When the two teams arrived, they found that while they had arrived relatively early, Verdan had once again beaten them to their destination. He was sitting in a seat on the third row of the classroom, reading the history book. As RWBY claimed seats around him, Ruby elbowed Yang softly. When Yang did not respond, Ruby elbowed her again. When Yang just elbowed back, Ruby elbowed her harder. Yang looked at Ruby with a look that clearly conveyed, "What gives?" Ruby tilted her head towards Verdan, mouthing "Apologize!"

Yang turned to Verdan. "Verdan, I apologize for our actions last night. It was rude of us to trap you in our room when you didn't want to sleep in there. We won't do it again. I'm sorry." Verdan made no move to respond to her or even acknowledge the fact that she spoke, besides a quick glance out of the corner of his eyes at her before returning to his textbook. RWBY looked at each other puzzled before looking back at Verdan. "Uh. . . Verdan? Did you hear Yang? Hello? Anyone in there?" Ruby asked as she waved her hand between Verdan's face and his book.

Verdan set down his book carefully before slowly folding his hands on the desk and looking at Ruby. "Yes, Rose. I heard your sister. It's rather hard not to hear her, she has such a loud mouth."

"What did you just say?" Yang demanded as she leaned across Ruby, eyes red. "I could have sworn you just called me a loudmouth, but I'm sure you're not that stupid, Tan Man!"

"Get out of my face, hothead. I'm trying to read here," Verdan casually replied as he pushed Yang's head away from himself. Yang started sputtering, completely caught off guard by his bravery in calling her "hothead" and by pushing her, touching her hair in the process. Just before she could start tearing into him, Oobleck zipped into the room to stand in front of his desk.

"Quiet down now, children, it is time for history!" As grumbles spread across the classroom, Oobleck slid behind his desk, with a textbook open to the day's lesson. "Today will begin our unit on the Great War!"

 ***Insert Line Break Here** *

As soon as the bell rang, Verdan packed up his gear and was one of the first ones out of the classroom. As he strode along the well-windowed hallway, RWBY hurried to catch up with him as JNPR went the other direction. Ruby used her semblance to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. "Hold up, Verdan! What's wrong?"

Verdan shrugged her arm off as he continued walking, not even looking at her as he answered. "None of your concern. Go away." Weiss, Blake, and Yang managed to catch up to the two at this point. "We can all tell something's wrong, Mr. Sandman," Yang said. "C'mon, tell us what's up."

"Call me one more stupid nickname, and I will defenestrate you faster than you can look up the meaning of the word, fireface," Verdan growled as he glared and pointed at Yang. "Nothing about me is any of your business. Do us all a favor and go away. I don't want to talk to you," Verdan said firmly.

"Don't pretend you're just fine, Verdan," Ruby said softly. "She's right, we can all see something's eating you. If you ever do want to talk, we'll be here," Blake kindly offered.

"Don't hold your breath. That day will never come," Verdan declared. "I would advise you all to worry about yourselves instead of about me. I will never talk to you. I don't want a team, I don't need a team. Now: Go. Away."

"Don't be so sore, Magnaman! You'll grow to love us eventually!" Yang declared as she came up to Verdan's right and threw her arm around his shoulders. The other three girls cringed, expecting an explosion. When Verdan had not reacted to Yang's arm, they looked at each other puzzled. Verdan wasn't doing anything, he was just walking as he had been previously, simply now with Yang holding on to him. The three girls fell back from the other two by a few feet, wary of something bad happening.

As they all walked, their group started to drift towards the wall, until they were only a couple of feet away. As they passed by a window, Verdan suddenly yelled, "I warned you!" before making a fist with his right hand, grabbing it with his left, and elbowing Yang in the ribs with all his strength. With an unexpected force, she slammed into the window beside her, breaking it and allowing her to fall out of it onto the ground below. Thankfully, they were only on the first floor, so she had only feet to fall, although she fell directly into a bush.

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake just gaped at Verdan, surprised by his unexpected harshness, cruelty even. They could hear Yang growling and cursing as she struggled to extract herself from the bush, promising revenge on Verdan, who appeared utterly unfazed by her reaction. He calmly pulled his scroll out of his pocket before hitting a button and calling someone. The tone they could all hear from his scroll indicated that his call was directed to voice mail, but Verdan did not seem to care.

"Hello, Professor Goodwitch? I regret to inform you that I have accidentally broken one of the windows in the hallway leading to Dr. Oobleck's classroom. This is my fault, so I accept full responsibility and am willing to pay for the replacement window. With my greatest apologies, Verdan Allen." He pressed another button his scroll to end the call and put his scroll back into one of his many jacket pockets. He turned to look at the other three girls, who were staring at him with looks of shock, respect, and anger.

"Have I made myself clear? Leave. Me. Alone. Go. Away." With his message finally made clear, Verdan turned to continue walking down the hallway to the next class, leaving the three girls to rush to the window.

"Are you alright, Yang?" Ruby asked. Blake stuck her hand out the window to Yang. "Need a hand getting up?" she asked. Yang reluctantly accepted the offer, and with Blake's help she was able to pull herself out of the bush. "Well _that_ was uncalled for," Yang grumbled as she brushed twigs from her clothes and glanced down the hallway with a dirty look.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

And so Verdan's attitude continued throughout the day. In classes, he ignored his teammates, making sure to sit as far from them as possible. When the last class of the day ended, he was one of the first ones out of the classroom. Ruby used her semblance to speed into the hallway soon after him, but it was to no avail. By the time she was out of the classroom, he was already gone.

When the remainder of Ruby's team and all of Jaune's team exited the classroom, Ruby was leaning against the wall looking disappointed. When Pyrrha suggested using TeamTrack to find Verdan, Ruby perked up immediately and pulled out her scroll, before sagging forward once more. "It's no good. He turned his scroll's tracker off. I can't find him, he isn't registering in any functions. I can't find him, I can't read his Aura, nothing. I guess there's nothing we can do," she finished sadly. They spent nearly all their free time before dinner looking for him, with no success.

When they arrived at the cafeteria for dinner, they saw a flash of tan disappear out the doors on the other side of the room. Ruby looked at Blake with hope in her eyes, deciding that the best person to talk to an introvert was another introvert. Blake shook her head in exasperation before weaving her way across the cafeteria and following Verdan out the door.

She continued to tail him through the hallways until he exited the building. After a moment's hesitation over the wisdom of this course, Blake decided to follow suit. When she slid out the door behind him, she stopped for a second. The door had led out the back of the building, to the back of the academy's property and the fairgrounds, awash in orange light from the setting sun. The stalls and fields were all empty, although they would be filled in a few month's time with the coming of the Vytal Festival. Blake stood still for a minute, listening to the wind and other noises, trying to hear anything to indicate Verdan's whereabouts.

After a few moments, she discerned chewing coming from behind one of the booths. She moved around to the side several blocks before arriving at the row Verdan was sitting in. She started moving up the row slowly towards her teammate. "Hey, Verdan, can we talk for a moment?" she asked as she crouched down a few blocks away from him. Verdan sighed before he set his food down and unslung his rifle and began rifling through his messenger bag. After a couple seconds, he pulled a clip out and inserted it into his rifle. He resumed eating with his left hand as he pointed in Blake's direction with his rifle in his right hand.

Blake started to rise slowly, realizing that he was deadly serious when he said to leave him alone. As she stood, he pulled the trigger several times. Most of the shots missed her to her surprise: he seemed a better shot than that. However, one shot hit her upper arm and sprouted a small ice crystal that fell off a moment later, revealing a bruise on her arm. The pain and cold evoked a noise of displeasure from Blake before she backed away and left. As she left, she thought she saw a look of surprise, frustration, and was that. . . guilt? on Verdan's face.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

When Blake returned to the cafeteria, the rest of her team and JNPR were waiting for her, Ruby with an extra meal between herself and Yang for Blake. As she sat down, everyone began bombarding her with questions – Yang had filled JNPR in on her mission. She held up a hand for silence, which had the side effect of bringing the bruise on her arm into plain view. Yang immediately grabbed her arm and examining the bruise.

"What happened? Did somebody try to bully you? Who did this to you? Was it Cardin? Did you beat him up for it?" Yang began demanding. "Can we break his legs?" Nora excitedly interrupted.

"No, it was not Cardin; no, I did not beat him up; no, you cannot break his legs; no, somebody did not try to bully me; and it was. . ." Blake trailed off for a moment, thinking. "It was Verdan. He's more prickly than a porcupine right now. We really should bow to his wishes and leave him alone for the time being."

" _Verdan_ hit you? I'll pound him into the ground!" Yang declared as her eyes began to change color. "Hold up there, Yang. He didn't hit me, exactly, and I'm not sure he meant to hurt me," Blake defended. As everyone else looked at her with confusion, she sighed.

"Okay, so he's eating out in the fairgrounds. Why, I don't know. I can only assume it's to get away from people, probably mainly from us. I asked him if we could talk for a minute. He pulled his rifle on me and started shooting at me. I don't think he meant to hit me, though. From what I can tell, he's a decent shot, and most of his shots missed. One hit my arm, though, that's where this this came from." Here she indicated her bruise.

Everyone looked down at the table, deep in thought. Yang was the first to speak. "I'm starting to get real tired of Verdan's attitude. How about you, girls?" Weiss spoke up. "Strange as it sounds, I'm with Yang. We've been nothing but welcoming to him and he's been nothing but rude in return. His actions have been uncalled for." After a moment, Blake agreed. "I can understand wanting to be left alone, but what he's been doing goes far beyond that."

Ruby looked dismayed. It had only been one day since Verdan had joined her team, and already things had begun to turn sour very quickly! Her team was already awesome, and somebody else who looked to be awesome joined them! It should have been perfect, but it was anything but perfect right now. "Let's just give him some time," she pleaded with her friends. "We'll actually leave him alone and give him some time. Maybe he'll get better?" she asked rhetorically.

"One day. If he pulls anything else, I'm speaking to Ozpin about him," Weiss declared. "After I beat his face in," Yang interjected darkly. Blake just shook her head. "I agree with the sentiment, not with the statement. If he makes any more trouble, something must be done." Ruby just looked relieved at their decision.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

When everyone finished their dinner, they went their separate ways. Pyrrha left in the direction of the armory, Jaune following soon after. Blake and Weiss went to the library to study, dragging Yang along with them. Nora ran off to search for sloths, Ren following behind to keep her at a manageable energy level. Ruby decided to tinker with her baby. There was always something to be improved! With that decided, she sped off to her dorm to retrieve her equipment kit.

Ruby stopped at the door to her dorm. Looking both ways, there was nobody else in the hallway in either direction and she did not expect anyone to be in the dorm, so she decided to do something that felt cool but that she'd never let anyone else see her do. She swiped her scroll to disengage the door's latch before kicking it in with a high-pitched cry of "Yah!" She strolled in, feeling awesome before twitching severely as she saw Verdan sitting at a desk, looking over his shoulder at the door. "Oh," was all Verdan said before he turned back to his work.

"Hey, Verdan," Ruby began awkwardly. "I was just, uh, I am, um, was, uh, looking for my tool kit!" she explained with a stutter, uneasy around the other person present. After several seconds passed with no response from the young man, Ruby turned to her bookshelf to retrieve the aforementioned tools. She froze when she saw the empty space on the shelf where her precious tools belonged. She began jerking her head around, quickly examining the room in an attempt to locate her missing treasure. She began moving things around on her bookshelf, wondering if the small duffel bag might have been shifted behind something else. When that failed, she turned to examining the floor around and under the "bunk beds" she shared with Weiss, wondering if perhaps her partner was playing a cruel prank. When that also failed to turn up her tools, she began to freak out, before turning to her absolute last resort.

"Uh. . . Verdan?" she asked, slowly walking around the perimeter of the room, examining everything. "Have you seen my tools by any chance?" After several seconds passed without any answer forthcoming, she spoke up again. "Verdan?" When he still refused to answer, she walked towards him, curious as to what was so entrancing him (she was sure he was simply buried in his work and not ignoring her). She looked over his shoulder to see his rifle on the desk, a panel on the side removed, revealing a silver rail, several wires, some small mechanical parts, and what appeared to be part of a lightning Dust crystal. She was entranced by the internals of a one-of-a-kind, unique, fascinating weapon and watched as he adjusted something before she realized something was off: the tool bag on the desk was black and red.

"Mine!" she declared, swiping the tool bag from the desk. She quickly dug through the bag, making sure everything was in there. After ensuring that nothing was missing or damaged, she turned to Verdan, who was still intent on his work. "You don't touch my tools! Nobody touches my tools!" she angrily declared. "What made you think that was okay?" Verdan turned around in his seat, a mischievous grin on his face. "Well, you never told me not to. . ." he trailed off, seeming almost happy with himself. Ruby huffed, seeing that he wasn't wrong, she had never specified not to touch them. Cradling the bag in her arms, she sped off towards the armory to retrieve her baby and get back to her original purpose. After she left, Verdan picked up the panel that had been removed from his rifle, setting it back into place and pushing on the top left and bottom right corners, using his semblance to reactive the magnetic locks and keep it in place.

 ***Insert Line Break Here***

Long after nightfall, when it was almost curfew, the students of Beacon gradually made their way to their dorm rooms. When the assorted members of team RWBY entered their dorm, they found Verdan asleep in his sleeping bag, so far deep into it that all that could be seen of him was his black hair, sticking out from his brown sleeping bag. Quickly they all prepared for bed and entered their bunks, before Weiss realized something – "Hey! My pillow's missing!" Ruby froze up upon hearing that. She had a good idea of who the thief was, but was reluctant to throw anyone under the bus, even him. However, that choice was quickly taken away from her by her sister.

"Is your pillow white, fluffy, and Schi-nee? Get it? Shiny, Schi-nee?" Yang asked. Weiss scoffed at her pun, but gave no other reaction as she answered. "Yes, the cover is made of silk, so it's more shiny than most fabrics. Why? Did you steal it?" she asked with an accusing tone. "No, I didn't steal it, but I know who did – look down here," Yang answered as she pointed down at Verdan.

Weiss leaned over Blake's bed to look where Yang was pointing. Verdan had an oddly large stack of pillows for someone who seemed to travel light. Poking out of that stack was the corner of a white pillow with a shimmer to it in the light. "Aha!" Weiss cried out in success as she pulled the pillow out of the stack, not noticing the thin wire it pulled as well. None of them heard the faint * _tink*_ of a Dust crystal breaking, but Weiss noticed the effect when shards of ice spread up the wire and onto the pillow, freezing her hand to it. "Hey!" she cried as she felt the cold ice surround her hand. After a few moments, the ice melted, but the water soaked into her pillow.

"Haha! You just got pranked!" Yang declared in glee as Weiss retreated to her own bed, leaving her precious silk pillow on the floor to dry. "All jokes aside though, I think that's the straw that breaks the camel's back. What do you say, girls?" Weiss and Blake murmured their agreement to Yang's statement. "I saw tomorrow morning, we go to Ozpin and speak to him about getting Allen off our team! Who's with me?" Yang asked, a little loud for nighttime. "Aye"s were heard from both Blake and Weiss as Weiss turned out the light and retreated to her bed. In her bed, Ruby just turned on her side, disappointed that her dreams of improving her team with Verdan effectively destroyed.

 ***I** **nsert Line Break Here***

 **AN:** **Well here's my third chapter. Haven't given up yet, that's good!** **This chapter took much longer to produce because a). I was devouring the Game of Thrones books and b). I was writing the outline to this story. Last time I tried to write, I stopped after a chapter because I had no plan. I want to at least create a plan for this story, so that it'll last longer.**

 **There's no real schedule for updates, it's just whenever I finish a chapter. Also don't expect a standardized length for chapters. As you can see, this one covered one day and is approximately 4,000 words. The previous chapter covered two days and was around 5,000 words. The chapter length will depend on events and my writing skills. I feel like I'm a bad writer, and the small word/event ratio is a symptom. You know, the greats such as Cyndaquil, Coeur, and whoever writes Remnant's Reclaimer, their chapters are typically massive, containing great description and lots of interesting dialogue. I feel like if I get better as I write this, word/event ratio will get better. So wish me luck!**

 **I've promised myself I won't be one of those writers who begs for reviews, but I'd be lying if I said they're not enjoyable to read!**

 **Hope you return, God bless, and don't take any wooden nickels!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 _Wednesday_

 _6/24_

 _06:00_

Exactly at six o'clock, Blake's eyes opened up. It was a skill most had to learn but that was innate to most Faunus, the ability to decide upon a time to awake before going to sleep and then awakening at that time, without any in-between stages, simply going from fully asleep to fully awake. It was a useful skill, one that her time in the White Fang had honed ever-sharper. Nowadays, she used it for more mundane and enjoyable purposes – reading time! She woke up an hour or two earlier than everyone else on her team in order to have some time of peace and quiet to devote to reading, time that was hard to come by with her nigh-always-chaotic team. As she rolled over to reach her bookshelf, she remembered the conversation last night and the resolution that came out of it: speak to Ozpin about removing Verdan from their team. She reluctantly placed the book back on her bookshelf, her reading time would have to wait.

Blake leaned over the side of her bed, to check the little nook where Verdan had claimed his space. If he was asleep, they would have to be quiet preparing for the day. It would hardly do for him to wake up and ask questions as they were trying to get rid of him. However, fate seemed to be on their side, as the nook was empty. Completely empty, Blake noticed with a frown of curiosity. Not only was Verdan gone, but his sleeping bag, his own pillow (most of what he used were the academy's), and his gear bags were all gone. She filed away this interesting tidbit as she got up to wake Yang.

Just as Blake was about to poke Yang in the face several times (that was the absolute minimum to get her up) she reconsidered her actions. She decided to wake her other ally in the cause first, that ally being Weiss. While Weiss was no more a morning person than Yang was, she was less inclined to violence upon being first awakened. She gently shook Weiss's shoulder, calling her name softly. "Weiss. Weiss, wake up. Weiss."

Weiss grumbled for a few minutes, pushing Blake's arm away and pulling the covers over her head. Blake rolled her eyes before yanking the covers off Weiss's bed entirely. "Hey!" Weiss exclaimed as she shot upright, suddenly fully awake. Blake threw the covers at Weiss's head as she turned away to the bathroom. "I get the bathroom, you get to wake up Yang."

"That's not fair!" Weiss exclaimed as Blake closed and locked the door behind her. "Fair's where you ride rides and get cotton candy. I woke up first, you drew the short straw." Weiss grumbled some more about snarky teammates as she clambered out of bed. She took a deep breath and steeled herself to do a very hazardous task: waking the dragon known as Yang Xiao-Long. After several more minutes and many more deep breaths, she realized she was putting it off and so stepped up to Yang's bed and began poking her repeatedly in the face. "Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang. Yang."

The only reaction that caused in Yang was grabbing Weiss's arm and cuddling it close to her. . . chest, rather like a prized teddy bear. Weiss quickly extracted her arm from Yang's grip, grimacing all the while. She thought for a second about how best to proceed. Even after several months of school, they had never had to wake Yang up this early. There were likely to be other such times in their four years of school, and perhaps many more if they stayed together as a team. The sooner they figured out an effective way to wake Yang, the better.

As Ruby snorted in her sleep behind Weiss, the foundations of an idea came to her. Yang did love her hair to an odd extent. Perhaps they could exploit that weakness somehow. . . Aha! She leaned in towards Yang and said loudly and clearly into her ear, "Yang! They're after your hair! They've got scissors!" As soon as she finished speaking, she backed up several steps. This turned out to be a wise move, as Yang shot up, arms flying. "Not on my watch! Stay back, evil implements!" she shouted. "Ah, good, she's awake," Blake said as she stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in her uniform and ready for the day.

At this point, all the noise finally woke Ruby up, and she sat up and stretched, squeaking as she did so. "What's going on?" she asked as she hopped off her bed, setting it swaying. "What time is it?" She glanced at the clock and saw it was 6:15. "Do we have something to do?" Weiss, Blake, and Yang glanced between each other. She was the only one of the four that was not firmly against the idea of Verdan remaining on their team, and none of the other three felt like volunteering to explain their plan. However, with a shared look, Weiss and Blake pushed Yang forward, effectively voluntelling her to explain.

"We're going to speak to Ozpin. We don't think Verdan is. . ." Yang paused as she tried to think of the right words to explain without crushing her sister's hope. "A good fit for our team. He's been antagonistic and cruel, and we don't think he's going to fit well with our team. We are going to recommend he at least be removed from our team." Yang dashed around Weiss and Blake into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door. Weiss gave an exclamation of anger as she began banging on the door, yelling about her turn came first.

When Yang finally got out of the shower twenty minutes later, she sat by Ruby on Weiss's bed, talking to her some more about their decision. "If Verdan remains on this team, it won't be good for any of us. It's almost like he's going out of his way to aggravate us. We just want this to be for the good of the team. You can understand that, right?"

Ruby sighed before nodding her head. "I understand. Yesterday evening he took my tools and started using them. Who knows what kind of damage he could have done to them? And he never even asked. I still want to give him a chance, but he's burning through all the chances I give him." She stopped for a second, considering. "Alright. I still don't agree with this course of action, but I will go with you to speak to Ozpin. What kind of leader would I be if I didn't listen to my team?"

Yang grinned before putting Ruby in a headlock. "Aw, I knew you would understand! My baby sister's growing up!" Ruby struggled to pull Yang's arm away, barely able to choke out, "Yang. . . Can't. . . breathe. . . Need. . . oxygen. . ." Yang released her sister just as Weiss exited the bathroom and Ruby dashed into it with semblance-assisted speed.

After Ruby's shower, all four girls exited their dorm, ready to speak to Ozpin. When they exited, the mystery of Verdan's disappearance was solved. Blake nudged everyone else, bringing their attention to the mass against the hallway wall, indistinct in the gloom. She held her finger up to her lips for silence as they quietly walked away. Once they had exited the dorm building, Blake asked the others, "Did anyone else notice Verdan wasn't in our room this morning?" The faces of the other three had the look of a light dawning in one's mind. "No, we didn't. Why? Was that Verdan?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded, her night vision having perfectly seen Verdan in his sleeping bag, up against the wall, with his stuff by his head. "He must have moved his stuff out of the room in the middle of the night. He's really serious about avoiding us."

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

The elevator dinged and the doors opened up into Ozpin's office. The four girls of team RWBY strolled out, looking around the office that none of them had ever been in before. The office was oddly open, with the only furniture in the room being Ozpin's desk and swiveling chair and several movable chairs placed in front of his desk. There were no cabinets or anything else for file storage in the room. Even Ozpin's desk was simply a slab of glass with gears under it, ones Ruby was inclined to believe were more for decoration than for any purpose, there were no drawers in his desk. Perhaps this office was merely for show, and his workroom was elsewhere? The walls were nearly all glass, as was the ceiling, with more gears rotating and orbiting above it.

Ozpin turned from his position at the window beside the elevator column, enjoying the view of the sunrise over the forest behind Beacon. He regarded the four girls in the middle of the room before speaking up and startling them, causing them to turn towards him. "Yes, Miss Rose?" Ruby stammered for a second before managing to pronounce, "We have an issue we would like to bring to your attention. Do you have a moment, or should we come back later?"

Ozpin shook his head before beginning to walk to his desk, speaking as he did. "No need for that, I can listen to your concern now. I was just enjoying the sunrise. Magnificent, isn't it? Carrying with it the promise of a new day and new possibilities? Please, have a seat," he said, indicating the four chairs in front of his desk. They all sat down, and Ozpin waved his hand towards them, indicating for them to speak.

The anti-Verdan three looked at each other as Ruby sat back, unwilling to speak first and not wanting to speak at all. Yang was the first to speak. "We want Verdan off the team." Weiss elbowed her teammate, hissing "He's the headmaster! Be polite!" Ignoring the interruption, Yang soldiered on. "He's not a good fit for our team. All we've done is be welcoming to him, and he's spat in our faces. I'm surprised he hasn't literally spat in our faces yet! He's stolen from Ruby and Weiss, _shot_ at Blake, and shoved me out a window!" Ozpin had a look of sudden understanding on his face at the last statement, mumbling "So _that's_ what happened." Ruby interrupted Yang's tirade for a moment to question his statement. "How what happened, Professor?"

Ozpin sat back in his chair and chuckled. "Professor Goodwitch was rather upset yesterday morning, complaining about Mr. Allen causing property damage already. His exact words were, 'Glass may be dirt cheap at Shade, but not here!' She was mollified slightly by his offer to pay for the replacement however. Anyway, please continue."

Weiss took over Yang's story, believing a cooler head's explanation might be more beneficial. "He's been rude and dismissive of all of us. We've even left him alone, with only Blake trying to talk to him. That's what spurred him to shoot her! I, for one, will not tolerate someone who shoots my teammates on my team. We want him off team RWBY." Ozpin took a second to look over the faces before him, Yang being angry, Blake and Weiss with determined looks, and Ruby with a conflicted look. She was not sure this meeting was a good idea, but she was sure that it unfortunately was the best idea.

Ozpin responded with an armor-piercing question. "And what if I do not remove him? What then, Miss Schnee?" The three who were adamant about his removal looked at each other, confused. "You are hardly the first team to have interpersonal issues, in fact you originally had personal issues if you would recall. I have a reason for the placement of every member of every team."

Weiss interrupted Ozpin for a moment. "But I thought our team assignments were random? Remember? First to meet eyes, two pairs with the same chess piece?" Ozpin smiled at that. "Did you really think that if the members of a team were truly irreconcilable with each other that the team would be forced to remain together? Not at all! To do so would be to damage their training, leaving them with wasted potential and worse odds fighting the Grimm."

Weiss looked amazed to hear that. "Well then why didn't you reorganize our team? To be honest, I never thought I'd get along with Ruby or Yang, and I'm sure it looked like that from the outside." Ozpin placed his elbows on the desk as he leaned forward to address Weiss's question. "Miss Schnee, I have a great deal of experience, and that experience told me that not only could you all overcome your differences, but that doing so instead of simply being reshuffled into teams with no tension would make your team that much stronger." Ozpin leaned back as he returned to his original topic.

"So you believe that Mr. Allen will never be a good member of your team, do you? What about you, Miss Rose? You've been silent during this whole discussion. What do you think?" Ruby looked up when she was addressed. "Well, I agree that right now he's being very difficult. I hope that with time that would change. While I would like it if he were to remain on the team, if Weiss, Yang, and Blake cannot stand him, then it would be better if he were to be removed from the team."

After a moment's thought, Ozpin responded to Ruby's declaration. "I want to be clear, here: I understand your concerns. In fact, were I in your position, I would agree with you. But as things stand, he will need to remain on your team." The three were clearly not happy with this decision, and Yang opened her mouth to complain. Ozpin held up a hand as he sighed. "Mr. Allen is going through a difficult time right now. The cause is what is also causing him to be particularly. . . anti-social. I would advise you to simply give him time and distance. In time, he should work through his issue and open up. If it becomes clear to me that he will not in a reasonable amount of time, I will reconsider this issue." Ozpin stood up, making it clear that the meeting was over. "I thank you for bringing this to my attention."

As the four girls began to stand, Ozpin interjected. "Miss Rose, would you please remain behind for a moment? I have something to speak to you about." Weiss, Blake, and Yang looked at Ruby. She waved them on, confident that whatever Ozpin had to tell her would be quick. As the elevator doors closed on the other three girls, she sat back down in her chair, directly across the desk from Ozpin. "What did you have to speak to me about, sir?"

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Throughout the rest of the day, all four girls of team RWBY followed Ozpin's advice, to a degree. At breakfast, they still sat at the table as Verdan, but they did not try to talk to him. When Verdan would sit apart from everyone else in classes, they would follow him. After he would get up and move, however, they would not follow him again. After classes were over, during free time, they invited him to hang out with them. When he never answered, they did their own thing with JNPR and did not try to rope him into fun activities. At night, they let him sleep outside in the hallway, instead of nearly kidnapping him again. Thursday continued in the same manner, except for one occurrence in the middle of the night.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Thursday_

 _6/25_

 _23:48_

It was the middle of the night, and all through the dorm; not a creature was stirring, not even a worm. Until suddenly the door flew open with great force and impacted the wall, creating a large noise. All four girls were startled out of sleep and sat up to see what happened with the door. In their sleepy state, all they could see at first was a small mass of black over a small pale mass over a long gray mass floating in. After looking closely for a few seconds, they recognized it as Verdan, with a look of anger and frustration on his face. Glynda Goodwitch stepped in after him, holding her riding crop in front of her. "Would someone please explain why Mr. Allen is sleeping outside in the hallway, instead of in the dorm like he is supposed to?"

Ruby spoke up. "It was his decision, he wanted to get away from the rest of us as much as possible." Professor Goodwitch shook her head in irritation. "If he wants to disassociate himself during the day, that is his concern. At night, however, all teammates are to remain in their dorm rooms, as the rules demand. Where should he go?" Ruby started chuckling, this situation was nothing she had expected, and something about it (possibly the fact that it was the middle of the night, or the way Professor Goodwitch referred to Verdan as a piece of furniture) made it funny.

Blake pointed to the side of her bed, at the little nook that Verdan had claimed days earlier. Professor Goodwitch flicked her wand and Verdan levitated right into place. Professor Goodwitch flicked her crop again and Verdan's bags floated into the room and stopped above him. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. The four girls turned to look at Verdan, or look in his direction in the case of Weiss and Ruby. They could hear a faint growling coming from him before the faint purple light around his bags disappeared and they dropped onto him, replacing his growling with a strangled "oof" sound. As one, the four girls lay back down and went to sleep.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Friday_

 _6/26_

 _9:00_

Finally, it was Friday, when the only class is combat class, all day long! While there is a small part of Monday is carved out for combat, the entirety of Friday is devoted to combat class. As everyone filtered into the classroom, armed to the teeth, Professor Goodwitch strolled around the arena floor, hitting buttons on her tablet. Yang leaned forward in her seat, propping her chin on her hands, elbows on her knees. "I'm ready to fight! Who's with me?" she asked RWBY and JNPR cheerfully. Jaune stoically ignored her question while the rest of the teams agreed in various ways. All except for Verdan, of course, who was sitting all the way on the other side of the arena, with his rifle across his knees and a satchel across his shoulders.

As the final stragglers trickled in, Professor Goodwitch looked up from her scroll. "Good morning students." After waiting several moments for the students to respond in kind, she continued. "This morning, we will be doing things a little bit differently. Instead of randomly generating matches, it will be similar to a game called 'King of the Hill'. The first match will be randomly generated. After that, only one name will be generated. That person is to fight the winner of the previous match, the 'king'. Whoever wins the most match will be considered the winner for today." She looked down at her scroll as two names appeared on the screen. The two selected made their way to the battleground. "Other than that, same rules apply. First person to have their aura drop into the red loses." She stepped back onto her observation platform before turning the force field around the arena on. "Begin."

And so the day's class began. Most stayed in the king position for only three or four matches. Cardin held the position for six matches, before being knocked out of place by Pyrrha, who continued to hold the position for eight matches before a break for lunch. "Alright class, time for lunch. Be sure to be back in here by 1300. Tardies will not be tolerated." A cacophony of noise erupted as everyone got out of their chairs (or peeled themselves off the arena floor in the case of the student who was Pyrrha's most recent vict, er, opponent). Ruby kept an eye on Verdan across the room. While everyone else was slowly making their way to the cafeteria, eager to get food, he was remaining in his seat. At this point, she anticipated this antisocial action, so this was no surprise, simply a disappointment. She sighed with frustration before following her friends to the cafeteria.

Once lunch was over, the students filed back into the arena room quickly, enjoying this new style of combat class. Ruby looked to where Verdan had been sitting before lunch, having not seen him in the lunchroom. Unsurprisingly, he was sitting in the same spot he was in previously. She hoped he had at least had a snack, it was hard to fight on an empty stomach.

Shortly before the top of the hour, Pyrrha left her friends and climbed down to the arena floor, standing at one end, ready for battle. At 1300, when everyone was set and ready, Professor Goodwitch looked up. "Quiet down everyone. It's time to continue the battles." She pressed several buttons before looking up to the main display, along with everyone else. The string of randomly changing letters suddenly stopped, resolving into "Ruby Rose", with a picture of said girl appearing above.

Mumbles ran across the arena as many started clapping and cheering. Ruby was rather well known among the students of Beacon, and was well liked by many, due to her unceasingly cheery nature. While some resented her for skipping two years of training, many admired her and almost regarded her as a mascot of Beacon, not in a disparaging manner of course.

As Ruby started to climb over her friends to get to the stairs, Ren nodded at her, Jaune gave her a fist bump, and Yang slapped Ruby on the back, causing her to wince. Ruby practically ran down the stairs, eager to start the match. She took her place at the opposite side of the arena from Pyrrha, and the two girls nodded at each other. Professor Goodwitch tapped her tablet, causing Ruby's aura meter to appear below Pyrrha's on the main display. She stepped back onto her platform and activated the spectator defense screen.

Pyrrha stepped into her ready position, Milo held in front of her and Akuo held parallel to her line of sight, raised to shoulder height. Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from behind her waist and activated it, flipping it around several times before embedding the point into the ground in front of her. The ground was self-repairing, so she didn't worry about causing any permanent damage. "Ready? Begin!" Goodwitch declared.

Ruby was the first to strike. She pulled her scythe out of the ground before dashing by Pyrrha's left, intending to catch her across the waist with it. As Pyrrha sidestepped the attack, Ruby planted the tip of her scythe in the ground and lifted her legs, allowing her momentum to swing her around on the scythe and kick Pyrrha. Pyrrha raised her shield however, and Ruby bounced off of it, stripping her of all angular momentum. She stood up and pulled her scythe out of the ground, holding it angled in front of her.

Pyrrha took that opportunity to flip her sword into a javelin and held it out from her side, parallel to her arm. She ran at Ruby, redirecting her scythe with her shield and swinging the javelin toward her opponent from the side. It was knocked away, however, when Ruby used the new direction of motion for her scythe and hit Milo with the base of the haft. Pyrrha spun the javelin around and fired several shots at Ruby, forcing her back. Pyrrha threw her shield at her, Ruby barely able to deflect it with Crescent Rose.

Ruby began twirling her scythe around as Milo bounced back into Pyrrha's grip, attempting to confuse Pyrrha. She ran at Pyrrha, still twirling her scythe. When Pyrrha pushed her javelin forward, Ruby stopped her scythe when it was pointing behind her, firing a shot and flying forward past Pyrrha with the aid of her semblance. As she passed Pyrrha, she fired another shot to flip her scythe around and hit Pyrrha. Pyrrha tried to push it away, and Ruby felt Crescent Rose move of its own accord, only striking a glancing blow. Ruby huffed, thinking _Unfair!_ of Pyrrha's use of her semblance. She planted one foot on the ground, pivoting around it to strike at Pyrrha's unguarded back.

Pyrrha turned, expecting such a move from Ruby. As Ruby swung her scythe, Pyrrha grabbed it and swung under it as it moved, quickly releasing it and striking Ruby in the legs with Milo, which she had shifted into a sword as she ducked under Crescent Rose. As she ran, however, she stumbled – her heel caught in the notch Ruby had carved with her scythe at the very beginning of the battle. As she fell, her heart leaped into her throat as she realized she would lose from bad luck. Had she made an honest mistake that caused her to lose the fight, she would have been satisfied with her loss. It was the realization that she was about to lose due to random chance, something she had no control over, that made her unhappy.

Ruby kept her scythe spinning as Pyrrha ducked under it, lifting her foot to let Crescent Rose's angular momentum spin her around to face Pyrrha as well. She was just in time to witness Pyrrha's stride trip up and see her start to fall. She loosened her grip on her scythe, allowing to slide through her hands until she was holding the very end of it as it extended towards Pyrrha. Just as she felt it impact Pyrrha, she triggered the rifle built into the haft of her precious baby. The high-velocity round, akin to the ones that Yang utilized in Ember Celica to imbue her punches with greater force, slammed into Pyrrha's side just as the head of Crescent Rose did. The sheer force of the impact forced Ruby to slide back several inches, but had the intended effect of severely dropping Pyrrha's aura. Their auras had been slowly chipped away during the battle, Ruby's more so than Pyrrha's, but the final blast was just enough to drop Pyrrha's aura enough to enter the red zone, signaling the end of the battle.

Ruby relaxed as she heard "Miss Rose is the victor!", folding Crescent Rose up into storage mode and putting it away. She crouched down to offer a hand to Pyrrha. Pyrrha gripped her hand with her left arm, allowing Ruby to pull her up. She put Milo and Akuo away and shook Ruby's hand. "Good match, Ruby. That was very skillful of you, taking advantage of my situation." Ruby grinned as she heard that. "Thanks! You too, I never would have won if it were not for that!" Ruby hugged Pyrrha's side before releasing her to return to her seat.

As Ruby moved to the side of the arena to prepare for the next battle, Professor Goodwitch spoke up. "Congratulations to Miss Rose for a well-fought victory. The next contender will be. . ." She looked up at the screen, where the string of random, rapidly changing letters had once again appeared. After a second's worth of dramatic pause, she pressed a button on her tablet and the letters suddenly resolved into "Verdan Allen" and his picture appeared above.

Whispers ran across the auditorium, but in direct contrast to Ruby's selection, there was no cheering or clapping. In the week Verdan had been a student at Beacon, he had made no friends and several people were not favorably inclined towards him. His silence and disassociation from everybody had been interpreted as arrogance and belief that others were beneath him by many, earning him their ire. Even the others who, like Ruby, were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for his actions were not exactly favorable towards him either, a more accurate description was neutral, at best. In this battle, all would be rooting for Ruby.

Verdan slowly wound his way through people to the stairs, before descending them to the arena floor and stopping opposite Ruby. His name and picture were replaced by aura meters for himself and Ruby, his at full and Ruby's at nearly full, her having recovered during the few minutes between the battles. He took Harenosum Acceletor from across his back and gripped it in two hands, winding the strap around the hand supporting the front several times to take in the slack. Across from him, Ruby extended Crescent Rose before slamming it into the ground in her ready position.

Professor Goodwitch activated the spectator defense screen before declaring, "Begin!"

Simultaneously, the two combatants acted. Ruby pulled her scythe from the ground and pointed it behind her, firing off a shot to launch her forward at Verdan. At the same time, Verdan knelt and raised his rifle to his shoulder, firing off at Ruby as she flew towards him. Right before she hit him, he dropped and rolled to the left, allowing her to fly over him and hit the ground behind him. He stood back up and began firing on Ruby before she even got the chance to get up. Suddenly, Ruby jumped up and dashed by Verdan, knocking his legs out from under him with her scythe.

Ruby waited on the side of the arena for Verdan to get up. She was more respectful than to attack an opponent while they were down, she would be the better man (or woman, as the case is) and allow Verdan time to get up. As Verdan got up, she crouched down slightly into a better ready position. She dashed at him again before planting the tip of Crescent Rose in the ground several feet in front of him, allowing her to swing around on it and plant her feet in her stomach. At least it would, had he not run forward at her instead of standing still to shoot her. Since he ran forward, she swung behind him, and the haft of Crescent Rose caught him in the side. It knocked him to the side, but without as much force as if Ruby hit him, meaning his aura was not as affected.

As Verdan stumbled and caught himself, he turned and resumed firing at Ruby. Given that he was using standard steel bullets, they were doing very little damage to Ruby. However, they still chipped away bit by bit at her aura, and they served as a distraction, since anyone would be thrown off by lots of little stinging impacts across their body. He was reluctant to use his more specialized shots in a mere spar, even though it might be of long-term benefit to him. As he fired, he ran towards Ruby, breaking off to attempt to slam the butt of his rifle into her chest.

Ruby lifted her scythe up to knock his rifle away, letting go with one hand as she finished to allow her scythe to swing up above her head and back around to her side, firing a shot as she did to slam the back face of her scythe into Verdan. As she swung Crescent Rose, she saw Verdan dip a hand into his satchel, lifting it out in time to try to push her scythe back. As he did, the balance of her weapon was suddenly thrown off, causing the head to dip towards the ground. A quick glance revealed the reason why – a large boulder had suddenly sprouted from the back hooks of Crescent Rose. She moved with her weapon, planting one foot in front of the other to balance as the head swung down and behind, bringing the base of the haft up and over towards Verdan's head. She twisted her scythe at the last second, bringing the flat of the spike hard onto Verdan's skull, causing him to stagger back. Ruby glanced up at the monitor, pleased to see that although her aura was hovering around 65%, Verdan's appeared to be around 50%, more than half the way to the critical level of 10%.

As Verdan regained his senses, inspiration struck him with all the force of Ruby's scythe. Her fighting style of heavily momentum-based, given her fight against Pyrrha and her moves against him. He had tried to throw Crescent Rose off-balance to counter this, but she had managed to turn it to her advantage again. However, the aforementioned inspiration was a much better idea to counter her momentum. He shifted Acceletor into two pieces and tossed it to his left hand, wielding the sword in his right.

Ruby dashed towards Verdan, swinging her scythe with great force. Instead of ducking or dodging, he moved to counter her by swinging his sword up to meet the haft of Crescent Rose. Ruby grinned, glad he was presenting a fight hand-to-hand. However, her smile turned upside down into a frown when as soon as their weapons met, her scythe was sent flying up and back, dragging her with it.

Weiss suddenly became much more interested in the fight, leaning forward as if to see better. "What just happened? Did anyone else see that?" she asked, nudging Blake beside her. "He somehow just threw her weapon back, that shouldn't be possible, that thing is massive!"

Blake narrowed her eyes. "You're right, something strange happened. He's wielding his sword with one hand, there is no way he should be able to counter with enough force to do that." She leaned forward as well, intent on figuring out what was happening.

Back on the arena floor, Verdan was shooting at Ruby nonstop, causing slight dips in her aura that slowly began to build on each other to create a noticeable decrease in her aura, dropping it to around 50%. He was freed to do this by the fact that every time Ruby swung Crescent Rose, he was able to deflect it and force her away with barely any effort. In a brief respite caused by knocking Ruby back once again and her catching her breath, he slung Acceletor over his back once more, deciding to use his sword for the rest.

Verdan grinned, this was the most fun he had had in a long while. Placing alike magnetic fields in Crescent Rose and Harenosum was a stroke of genius! He decided to stop toying with Ruby and boosted the strength of the two fields from a slight push away from each other to a strong repulsion. He gripped Harenosum with both hands, swinging up at Crescent Rose as Ruby charged. With the magnetic fields exponentially stronger, the result was much more dramatic. Instead of simply bouncing back, Crescent Rose flew out of Ruby's hands, flying into the defense screen and penetrating it from sheer speed, embedding itself into the wall.

Ruby stood gaping for a moment before running at Verdan, intent on fighting on. She tried punching, drawing on her spars with Yang. However, this failed miserably, as Verdan batted her fist away with his arm, striking her side with the pommel of Harenosum. Ruby stumbled back for a moment before rushing at Verdan again, attempting to run into him. Verdan simply moved to the side, letting her charge past before kicking out at her behind as she ran past, forcing her to stumble into the ground, dropping her aura drastically. As Ruby tried to get up, Verdan sheathed his sword before lifting Ruby by the lapels of her cloak. He looked up at the aura meters to see that she was at 40% before sighing and looking back at her.

"Forfeit, Rose," he demanded. "I do not wish to beat up a defenseless little girl but I will not lose. Forfeit and save yourself some pain."

Ruby shook her head. "No! I do not give up!"

Verdan growled in irritation. "You will lose! Give up! You cannot beat me! I do not want to associate with you!" He started shaking her slightly out of frustration. When Ruby continued shaking her head, Verdan dropped her to the ground. He stepped back as she stood up. When Ruby ran at him, he held his hand out and she ran right into it, dropping her aura by five percent.

Ruby stood back up, looking slightly dazed. Verdan stalked up to her and stopped only inches away, looking down at her. "Rose. You. Cannot. Win. Surrender." In response, Ruby kicked out at his legs. Verdan skipped back before turning away. "Professor Goodwitch, call the match. This is no longer a fight, this is a massacre."

Professor Goodwitch denied his request. "I'm sorry, Mr. Allen. That is not within the rules. Until one combatant forfeits or has their aura dropped to 10%, the match must continue."

Verdan rolled his eyes before turning back to Ruby. "Leave. Me. Alone." With that said, he turned back to Professor Goodwitch. "I forfeit, lemme out of here." He walked to the spectator defense screen and waited until Professor Goodwitch deactivated it before walking out.

"Mr. Allen, hold on. I have something to speak to you about." Verdan paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder at Professor Goodwitch. "Your request of Headmaster Ozpin has been granted. You are clear for this afternoon." Verdan nodded before facing forward and leaving.

Ruby pulled Crescent Rose out of the wall before returning to the side of the arena floor for the next battle. Yang cracked her knuckles, her eyes slowly changing color. "I'm gonna have a word with Verdan when this is all over." Blake and Weiss nodded, not happy about Verdan's treatment of Ruby.

 **ΔInsert Scene Change HereΔ**

The school day ended several matches later, with Ruby being knocked out the next match. The four girls of team RWBY rushed to their dorm, one intent on having a painful discussion with Verdan, two others wanting to watch, and the fourth trying to dissuade them all. Yang busted the door down, saying loudly, "Verdan, we're gonna have a talk that you're not going to enjoy!" The four girls stopped short when they saw Verdan in his nook, rolling up his sleeping bag. "What're you doing?" Blake asked.

Verdan turned slightly to look at them. "Leaving." He turned back to his work.

After a moment's hesitation, Blake asked, "Why are you leaving?"

Verdan finished his task and looked up, but stayed facing the way he was. "Mission."

Ruby, having already recovered from her fights, bounced up and down excitedly. "Can we come?"

Without missing a beat, Verdan responded with a "No."

Yang chimed in, her anger forgotten. "We've done things like missions before! C'mon, you could use our help!"

"No!" Verdan declared forcefully.

"Verdan, there's a reason trainees are in teams. The teammates are supposed to depend on each other, you need us," Weiss interjected.

"No! I don't need help and I will not be responsible for you four!" Verdan responded with a raised voice.

"We can take care of ourselves! You don't understand. . ." Yang declared in frustration.

Verdan stood up and whirled around. "You think I don't understand? You think I don't know what it's like?" he yelled. "I know exactly what it's like!" He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing in a deceptively calm tone. "I know what it feels like, to be a new trainee team and feel invincible. To feel like you can do anything. Something strange started happening in Vacuo. So my team, we decide to investigate ourselves instead of leaving it to the police, like we should have done."

The four girls looked at each other, seeing a familiar look in his eyes, the look of one who has suffered loss and realized that they had entered a subject that was likely better off left alone. In that moment, the look in his eyes and his evident calm rage reminded them that, no matter what they felt like, he was a year ahead of them and had experience and training the rest of them lacked. He was not their equal.

After a moment's pause, Verdan continued. "So we start investigating. We find several leads. We split up, two to cover one lead, and two to cover the other. It was all my idea, the investigation, the splitting up, everything. And because of it, I GOT HALF MY TEAM KILLED!" he roared. Immediately, he realized he had said too much, and it was clear on his face. He took a deep breath, intending to say something else, before realizing that there was nothing else to say. He shouldered his bag, grabbed his sleeping bag, and walked out of the room, leaving four shocked faces behind him to look at each other.

 **ΩChapter EndΩ**

 **AN: Well that's that. Nothing much to say here. If you've got any questions, feel free to PM me or leave them in a review and I'll address them next chapter.**

 **I hope I'm keeping the characterizations of the canon characters true, and that my characterization of Verdan is consistent. Let me know if I screw something up, please.**

 **Anyone know how to make the little lines that show up here for section breaks appear? I can't figure it out.**

 **Still would like a beta reader.**

 **See you next time, God bless, and buy low sell high!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _Saturday_

 _6/27_

 _0830_

Verdan awoke to someone shaking his shoulder, seeing an unfamiliar face above him. After his thought processes returned to waking speed, he remembered it was the Bullhead pilot. "Mr. Allen, we've arrived." The pilot turned around and reentered the cockpit, taking the controls once again. Verdan stood up and shouldered his backpack before putting winding the strap of Harenosum Acceletor around his hand and grabbing the grip. With the whine of hydraulics, the port side cargo door opened, revealing a green forest, the treetops approximately ten feet below. "This is as low as we can go, kid! You'll have to jump the rest of the way!" the pilot yelled over the noise of the wind from the cockpit. "Good luck out there!" Verdan nodded at him, before taking several running steps and jumping out the door.

The distance to the forest canopy was covered in part of a second, Verdan curling into the fetal position as soon as he jumped so that his face would not be the first to impact any branches. He felt something crack beneath him, and then he was surrounded by greenery. He uncurled and extended his free hand, activating the magnet in his gloves. He began concentrating on the region of space right in front of his hand. As soon as a tree limb came close enough, a magnetic field came into being centered around it, drawing his glove towards the limb. Verdan gripped the limb, spinning around and examining his surroundings.

Seeing nothing of any threat or interest nearby, he turned his attention to the tree trunk several feet away. He activated the magnets in his boots and created a weak magnetic field in the tree, just enough to pull his legs slightly towards it. He began swinging back and forth, towards and away from the tree trunk. When he had enough energy, he released his grip and the magnet in his glove at the apex of the swing, flying towards the trunk. He extended his legs, and as soon as he made contact with the trunk he amped up the magnetic field in the trunk. His upper body continued moving forward, allowing him to place his free hand on the trunk, leaving him looking like a lizard stuck to a wall. He slowly shimmied down the trunk, jumping the final few feet to the forest floor.

As he began examining his surroundings, looking for any evidence of a disturbance in the forest, his thoughts wandered to the previous night. It was done, his past was out. Part of the reason he had so eagerly followed the trail of the artifact thieves was to get away from the pity from many and the judgment of few at Shade.

Most of the students had not held him accountable for what happened, but their attitudes toward him changed nonetheless. They began looking at him with pity in their eyes, treating him as if he were made of glass. They began leaving him alone, instead of inviting him to do things as they previously had. At that time, being alone was the last thing he had wanted, but the first thing they had done "for" him. By the time he had left, however, he had grown to enjoy the solitude – attachment to another team was the last thing he wanted or needed. No matter what, though, he never got used to the pity in their eyes.

The others were just as bad. They blamed him for the deaths of his teammates, a view he agreed with. They began to torment him, even the level one trainees, the ones who had only been at Shade for a month when _it_ happened. His cousin had directed the teachers that this was unacceptable, but the teachers had been unable to stop it, only drive it underground. His possessions went missing, his weapon began mysteriously malfunctioning at random times, his class assignments were sabotaged, and his Dust stock often randomly detonated in his face, whether in class, in the workshop, or in the field. A part of him welcomed this as penance for his failure, but the rest of him was incredibly hurt by their actions.

In the end, it all became too much. When the evidence linking the White Fang, the artifact thefts, and Vale together came to light, Verdan jumped on the chance it presented. A chance to transfer to a new school that didn't know what happened, even temporarily, would provide a welcome respite from the people at Shade. And now, thanks to his careless mouth, it would all end. Surely it would spread through the school now.

After he had said too much, he left. There wasn't anything else to say. As he left the dorm building, he thought he heard someone call his name, but he ignored it and continued to the air pad. Unfortunately, the only vehicle available was a Bullhead, meaning the trip to the island park would take all night. Bullheads were not much faster than most land vehicles. They were built for civilian heavy cargo transfer, so speed was not a priority. The Atlasian army was the place to go for a fast cargo vehicle.

 _On the bright side,_ Verdan thought, _they're likely to leave me alone now. Who wants a tainted trainee on their team?_ He continued marching through the forest, alert for any sign of a disturbance in the woods around him.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _0940_

Back at Beacon, things were not as tense as in the wild. The four girls of team RWBY had awoken at their normal weekend time of 0900 and met with team JNPR for their breakfast, in a very somber mood after the revelation of the previous afternoon.

"What's wrong? You four were quiet all yesterday afternoon, and you're not much happier today. Is everything okay?" Pyrrha asked RWBY concernedly. The four girls looked up from their food at Pyrrha in a staggered pattern. Ruby was the first to speak.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it, team stuff." Ruby's expression and voice took on a more cheerful aspect. "So, what's everyone going to do today?"

Nora was the first to speak. "Sloth hunting!" Ren took over to add some exposition to Nora's declaration. "Nora believes that there are three-toed sloth plushies for sale in Vale. She's going to go check out the stores to find one." Nora grinned and nodded excitedly. Ruby was not the least bit surprised.

Weiss gave her itinerary next. "I plan to do some research in the library. Blake, would you mind helping me?" she asked the black-haired girl. Blake looked surprised for a second before nodding assent. "Of course. What are you looking for?" Weiss waved her hand slightly, telling Blake, "I'll tell you later."

"I kinda just wanted to play some video games today," Jaune said. "Wanna play Ruby?" Ruby considered the offer for a moment. _It_ will _give me a moment to talk to Jaune about our plans._ She then nodded at Jaune. "I can't stay long, but sure! Sounds like fun!"

Ruby looked at Yang. "What are you doing, Yang?" The blonde broke into a wide grin before saying, "Eh, I guess I'll just be kinda _Yang_ ing around!" She held the grin for several moments as her friends stared at her in disgust and anger. "Everyone's a critic," she grumbled as she sat back and crossed her arms. Ruby shook her head in resignation over her sister's ways that would never change before looking to the girl whose plans were most critical to her own.

"And you, Pyrrha?" Pyrrha looked down, considering her options. "I suppose I'll just stick with you guys," she said, inclining her head towards Jaune and Ruby. Ruby began panicking, unsure of how to get her away without seeming suspicious or cruel. After several panic-induced ideas, each more outrageous and destructive (emotionally, relationally, and physically) than the last, Jaune took the issue out of her hands. "Sounds great Pyrrha! Glad to have you." Ruby mentally complained, before resigning herself to the fact that she'd have to sneak some time in to talk to Jaune with Pyrrha around.

"Well then, sounds like everyone's got a fun and busy day ahead!" Ruby declared, standing up ad picking up her now-empty breakfast tray. "I, for one, am ready for some gaming. Ready to get your butt whooped, Jaune?" she confidently invited. Jaune stood up with his own empty dishes. "Only in your dreams! Let's go!" He looked down at Pyrrha. "Ready to go?" Pyrrha shook her head. "Go on, I'll catch up in a minute."

Ruby and Jaune took their dishes to the return line and rushed off to RWBY's dorm, eager to play the new FPS game that had just come out. They picked their characters and allegiances and began playing a multiplayer match, and in the middle of the first round Ruby spoke up. "So, Jaune, you're aware that Pyrrha's birthday is in six days, right?"

Jaune's head snapped to look at Ruby as his character was sliced in half on the screen. "Her what?" he said in a stunned monotone. "Her birthday's on Wednesday. It's July 1. You didn't know your own partner's birthday?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"In my defense, we've never talked about birthdays!" Jaune spluttered. "How was I supposed to know?" Ruby shook her head. "It's on her student profile, Jaune. You know, the basic information that teammates can read about each other?" Jaune just sighed and put his controller down.

"I take it you don't have a present for her, then?" Ruby asked, knowing the answer already. When Jaune shook his head and looked at her desperately, she declared, "Then we'll just have to go get her a present today!" She shut down the game console and put away the controllers before rushing out the door, nearly bowling over Pyrrha. "We, uh, we just remembered something important! We forgot it, it's leaders only! We gotta go!" Ruby rushed past Pyrrha, dragging Jaune with her, not allowing Pyrrha to even get a word in edgewise.

Pyrrha sighed. She had been looking forward to spending the day doing nothing with Jaune. It would have been like a date, even if it wasn't one to him. Well, now her plans went down the drain. She had to think of something else. Perhaps go for a stroll around Vale?

Ruby and Jaune made it to the landing pad and hopped on a Bullhead leaving for Vale. Jaune leaned over and braced his hands on his knees, panting for breath. "So. . . huh, huh. . . Ruby. . . huff, huh, huff. . . Got any. . . huff. . . ideas?" Ruby spoke normally, not even out of breath from the run. "A few, but you should try to come up with an idea." Ruby paused for a moment.

Ruby thought hard – she had the impression she should do something, but she could not remember what it- Her face lit up as she remembered! She pulled out her scroll and dialed her sister. "Hey, Yang, can you start the party planning? I've got to take Jaune into Vale so he can buy something for Pyrrha." Yang responded positively. "Yeah, sure. Should be simple enough. Whatever happened to keeping the planning off the grid, though?" she asked in a teasing voice. Ruby stammered for several seconds, Jaune overhearing Yang chuckling on the other end of the line. "See you later, sis," Yang said as she hung up. Ruby settled into her seat to wait out the rest of the short trip.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _1030_

Verdan marched through the forest, being careful, however, to avoid making as much noise as possible. His head turned from side to side, goggles up, examining his surroundings. There was no physical evidence of anyone nearby – no broken branches, no fresh footprints, no disturbed leaves on the ground. The infrared camera in his goggles agreed with his conclusions. It showed the only thing nearby were animals like deer, foxes, or squirrels.

Verdan prized those goggles. They had been a gift from his parents, given to him when he was accepted into Shade Academy. They were designed to function akin to the HUDs in Atlas soldier armor. They could link to and display the feeds from up to three cameras, as well as linking with a scroll. His sister had even begun designing a program to allow it to display data from other types of sensors as well, although last time he spoke to her she was trying to fix a major bug. The model his parents had purchased had come with an infrared camera pre-installed in the nose piece. He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a crackling noise behind him. He whirled around, examining the woods behind him and spotting something.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

He crouched down quickly, not that he had much choice. Ruby had not been light when she pulled his arm down. "What's goi-" Jaune asked before Ruby put her hand over his mouth. She put her finger to mouth, signaling for Jaune to be quiet. She whispered to him, "She's here!" Jaune just tilted his head at her in puzzlement. "Pyrrha's here!"

"Why is that a bad thing?" Jaune hissed at her. "We can't let her see us here! We're supposed to be at a leader thing, remember?" Ruby hissed back. Jaune nodded, a clear look of "Oh!" on his face. He peeked around the end of the aisle, looking for her. When the coast was clear, he and Ruby ran to the next cover, remaining low to the ground.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

He slowly stood up to look over the bushes. Verdan had seen a humanoid form nearby, standing out against the blue backdrop in bright orange and red. He pulled his goggles down around his neck to clear his vision of any obstructions. Gripping his rifle tightly, he looked around before vaulting over the bush.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

He and Ruby pressed their backs against the shelves, trying to make themselves as small as possible. "We can't get out, we're trapped!" Ruby whispered. Jaune saw what she meant, Pyrrha was standing in just the right place to have a perfect view of the doors to the store. However, Jaune saw things a different way. "No, this is perfect! We can follow her and see what she looks at and try to get some ideas!" Ruby shook her head, believing this to be a bad idea. Jaune ignored her judgment and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along as they stalked behind Pyrrha.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

He ducked behind a tree as-

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Pyrrha turned around, a frown on her face. She could have sworn she saw someone that looked like Jaune behind her! As she turned back around to examine the item she was looking at, Jaune and Ruby-

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Rolled from behind the tree to crouch behind a bush. Verdan wasn't sure what this man was doing in the middle of the wilderness, but given that they were all by themselves, without a weapon or associate, did not bode well in his eyes.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Jaune poked his head out from around the endcap of the aisle, trying to get a good look at what Pyrrha was looking at.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

He could see that his initial impression was correct, this stranger did not have a weapon. He did have a simple staff with a spike at the end of it, and combined with the rest of the stranger's gear, it indicated this man was a hiker, of the variety that loved the adrenaline rush from camping in Grimm territory. Verdan huffed in frustration, deciding to-

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Give up their plan to spy on Pyrrha. She didn't look like she was shopping for something, more like she was just killing time. As Pyrrha meandered deeper into the store, Ruby grasped Jaune's upper arm, pulling him along and pulling him-

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Straight into the bushes. Verdan cursed under his breath. How could he have been so stupid as to trip into the bushes when he was trying to avoid noise? The hiker stopped and-

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Turned to face the source of the noise. Pyrrha saw what had once been a pile of merchandise had collapsed to the ground in a racket. She could have sworn she saw Jaune and Ruby, but decided she must have been imagining things. She continued making her way into the store as Jaune and Ruby made good their escape.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Verdan rolled over and lay on his back where he had fallen, head tilted back in frustration and resignation. The hiker came over and extended his hand. "Need a hand, there?" Verdan released a loud exhalation from his nose and grabbed the hiker's hand, allowing himself to be pulled upward. The hiker clapped him on the back as he asked, "What happened there, young master?"

Verdan shook his head ruefully. "I tripped in my haste. I. . . had been tracking you, and when I saw you were a hiker decided to leave you in peace. According to my natural luck, I promptly tripped and caused a racket." The hiker gave a deep chuckle. "No problem, young man. Might I ask what you are doing out here?"

Verdan responded slowly. "I'm. . . on a mission. There were reports of. . . a disreputable faction at work here. I was sent to. . . investigate." The hiker looked at Verdan with narrowed eyes. "You look a little young to be a Hunter."

Verdan shook his head. "I'm not a full Hunter, I'm a trainee. Sorry to have disturbed you, sir. I'll leave now." The hiker agreed. "Very well. Be safe out there, young man!" "You too, sir!" Verdan called out as he waved and walked away.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

For Verdan, days continued as the first one did. He found absolutely nothing in his search. The report Ozpin received had mentioned finding a scrap of material with the White Fang logo on it, which combined with the history behind the park meant that it was a good place for Verdan to start his search. As the days passed, he began to doubt the veracity of the report. The hiker was the only person he had run across the entire mission. Although the island was relatively large, it seemed that it was currently abandoned, by persons both legal and not.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Friday_

 _7/3_

 _1745_

Yang led Pyrrha along the hall to her dorm. "You said something was wrong, Yang?" Pyrrha asked her guide worriedly. She had begun wondering if something was wrong when all of RWBY and Jaune and Nora were missing from dinner. When Ren would not answer her questions and quickly disappeared upon finishing his dinner, she thought maybe she had done something to offend them and make them avoid her. This sad thought had quickly been driven from her head when Yang approached her halfway through her own meal, however. Yang had informed her that Jaune needed her, that there was an issue in RWBY's dorm and they needed her. Pyrrha had immediately abandoned her food, leading to their current location.

"Yeah, something strange appeared in the dorm, and since it had your name on it, Jaune and Ruby figured we should get you," Yang said as they climbed the stairs. "I'm not sure it's like, seriously wrong, I think it's just different."

"Brace yourself," Yang advised Pyrrha as she opened the door to RWBY's dorm. Pyrrha prepared for the worst, and was met by a loud "SURPRISE!" when she stepped in the door. She looked around and met eyes with all her friends as they stood around the room, wearing party hats and grinning at her. Well, for Weiss it was more of a smirk, but she figured that was the best she'd get from Weiss. Ren and Blake were more subdued as well, so it wound up being only Nora, Jaune, Ruby, and Yang with such wide grins, but it was still a happy moment.

"Happy birthday, Pyrrha!" Ruby crowed happily. Nora and Yang started blowing the unfurly thingies, the ones that make a noise. Pyrrha looked up to see a banner strung across the space between the bunk beds that read the same as Ruby's declaration. Pyrrha smiled before turning to Yang. "Was that the strange object?" she asked, pointing at the banner. Yang nodded unabashedly. "Yep!"

Nora handed a crown to Pyrrha that was labeled "It's my birthday!" Nora smiled like a maniac as she declared in a deep voice, "Wear it!" Pyrrha backed up slightly as she nodded and took the headpiece. Even after six months, her teammate still escaped her understanding.

The party continued for a time, with games played and cake eaten. Other Huntsmen-in-training stopped by to wish Pyrrha well and give her gifts, even some second- and third-year teams. Eventually, the games were all played, the cake was all eaten, and guests had all arrived and exited. Pyrrha opened her presents, making exclamations of surprise at each new gift revealed. When finally the night was over, she thanked all her friends, hugging the ones willing to be hugged.

The two teams dispersed to their dorms, happy after an enjoyable evening celebrating their friend. However, as Ruby drifted off to sleep, the thought Verdan surfaced in her mind. It had been a week, student missions were not supposed to last that long. As Ruby slowly surrendered to restful unconsciousness, she wondered if he was doing okay.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Saturday_

 _7/4_

 _1248_

Verdan tunneled through the bushes, thoroughly frustrated. He had spent nearly a week out here, and had found not one hint of anything he was looking for. Not the White Fang, not ruins, not anybody else who may be stealing archeological artifacts (he was keeping an open mind about whether the White Fang were truly responsible for the thefts in Vacuo). _Seven stinkin' days out here in the forest, and nothing to show for it. My supplies are running low and that means I'm gonna have to leave soon_ _without finding-_ Verdan tripped over an exposed root, landing face down in the dirt after crashing through a _very_ spiny bush. "Stupid forest, filled with all sorts of stupid plants!" he grumbled to himself as he climbed to his feet and brushed his clothes off. His tirade was abruptly cut off as he looked up and saw one of the things that he had been hoping to see – a stone tower, looking at the very least from before the Great War.

Verdan slowly approached the tower, in cautious awe. He walked around the stone structure, looking for an entryway of some sort. The doorway turned out to be on the other side of the tower from where he approached. He stuck his head in, just as a voice called out from behind him. "Whatcha lookin' for, sonny?" He spun around to point Acceletor at a Faunus man with the uniform of a park ranger making his way through the forest.

"On a mission, found this, figured I'd check it out real quick. My father's an archeologist, so I've got a bit of an interest." Verdan replied, turning back to look inside the tower once more. The inside was a wreck, hollow all the way to the top. "Do you know how old it is?" he asked the ranger, walking down the hill. "Dates from the Great War. Not that impressive," the ranger replied. "You said you were on a mission? You a student?"

"Yeah," Verdan nodded his head. "I'm a trainee from Shade." Verdan pulled out his scroll and displayed his student profile, showing it to the ranger. "There were reports of what appeared to be White Fang activity here, disturbing the ruins, so I was assigned to check it out. Have you seen anything?" He waved his hand at the shotgun the ranger carried.

"Naw, son. This here's for the Grimm. Even parks like this can't be qualified 'Cleared of Grimm.' We don't even know how they spawn, all we know is they don't spawn in the cities." The ranger dipped his head at Verdan. "Shouldn't you know this, being from Beacon?"

Verdan shook his head. "I'm only at Beacon temporarily. Like I said, I'm not from around here." After a moment's pause, Verdan changed the subject. "Well, I've gotta be off. I need to complete that mission."

"Why? Are you on a time limit?" the ranger inquired.

"Yes, in a way I am. I only have enough supplies for just over a week, and I'm almost out. I just want to finish up and get back to the school." Verdan turned away to examine the inside of the tower again.

"Here, lemme come along with ya. I don't got any better work to do right now, and this is my assigned territory! I'd be a great help to ya," the Faunus offered. Verdan looked over his shoulder at the ranger. "I would much rather you didn't," Verdan said as he entered the base of the tower.

He looked around the dim interior, closely examining everything he could. There was a small amount of sunlight coming in from from a hole in the wall, one Verdan assumed once worked as a window. Across the room, here was a set of stairs spiraling around the wall to reach the next level. As he climbed the stairs, he could see out of the corner of his eye the ranger entering the tower, glancing around almost nervously.

The second level was just as empty as the first. Two windows in the circular walls, stair across the room leading to the roof. There was, however, something distinctive on this level. Attached to wall near the stairs to the roof was a metal rack. Closely examining it, it appeared to have been designed to hold polearms such as spears. Verdan took the stairs to the roof, looking out upon the forest.

The ranger came up behind him and spoke. "An impressive sight, eh?" Verdan turned to speak to him. "I suppose so. I'm not a huge fan of the woods. Give me the mountains or the desert, now that's an impressive view." Verdan descended the stairs, returning to the ground floor. "Well this was disappointing," he grumbled as he jumped down the last few stairs. He glanced around the room one last time, disappointed in the absolute lack of anything interesting in this not-so-old ruin. However, any thought of frustration was forcibly evacuated from his mind at the sight of a glint of silver.

Verdan rushed to the "corner". Really it was just a section of the room underneath the stairs, but due to the deep shadow it was in he regarded it as a corner. The glint turned out to be a bracket that was screwed to the floor, and seemed to bend and disappear into a seam between two stones in the floor. _That's far too shiny to be old. This is not normal!_ Verdan excitedly realized.

Verdan began scrabbling at the stone opposite the bracket, trying to pull it up before realizing he had a better way to grip it. He set his rifle on the ground beside him and extended his hands over the rock. He magnetized it and unlocked the magnets in his gloves. His hands stuck to the rock, and he struggled to pull it up. After several minutes of strain, he moved the stone to the side, revealing a small hole in the floor. A rope was tied to the end of the bracket, descending into the darkness.

Verdan picked up Acceletor and pulled a flashlight out of his pocket, turning it on and locking it onto the attachment rail on the side of his rifle. He grabbed the rope, about to start climbing down before the ranger spoke up. "Uh. . . kid, I'm not really sure you should be going down there," he said, sounding unsure of something.

Verdan shook his head, a grin on his face. "Are you kidding? This is important! This could be exactly what I am looking for!" He slowly slipped into the hole and began rappelling down the shaft, magnetizing one hand to the rope and gripping Acceletor with the other. The ranger shook his head before putting his shotgun over his shoulder and climbing down after Verdan.

The shaft was much longer than it first appeared, nearly a hundred feet deep. When Verdan reached the bottom, he swung his rifle around, using the flashlight to examine his surroundings. A door was set into the wall, with a light shining out from around it. Verdan grabbed the doorknob, raised his rifle to ready position, and opened the door. When it became clear that nobody was around, he lowered his rifle.

The door opened into something like a mineshaft. It looked recently excavated, and was brightly lit by floodlights, the power cords running deeper into the tunnel. The low humming of a power extractor was audible, coming from farther down the tunnel and around a corner. Verdan looked around in excitement and wariness, curious as to what his all was.

Verdan heard the forest ranger speak up behind him. "Sorry kid, but you're in too deep." Curious at both the meaning of his sentence, as well as the sudden disappearance of his friendly, country tone and dialect, Verdan turned to inquire of the, before becoming acquainted with the butt of the shotgun's handle whipping into the side of his head, introducing him to the abyss of unconsciousness.

 **Ω Chapter End Ω**

 **AN: So that's that.**

 **I use "hunter" as the male form, "huntress" as the female form, and "huntsman" as the non-descriptive form. Little odd, but they use "hunter" and "huntress" in the show for male and female, so I took the third variation to use as gender neutral.**

 **To be clear, the goggles that Verdan wears are one piece. They look like snowboarding goggles, rather than the type of goggles that has an individual cover for each eye, such as Neptune's.**

 **Harenosum Acceletor looks like a combination of Crescent Rose's stowed-away form and an AR-15. The shotgun the "forest ranger" has looks like the shotguns from the Jurassic Park movie.**

 **Credit and thanks to FanficCrossoverMaster15 for being a beta reader!**

 **See ya next time, God bless, and the early bird gets the worm!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 _?_

 _?/?_

 _?_

The first thing Verdan was aware of was the ringing in his head. As this slowly drew him into self-awareness, he became aware of the darkness surrounding him. There was absolutely no light around him, it was the sort of darkness that made one imagine they could see. He rolled over from his side to his back and sat up, only to ram his head into a metal grate above him. He fell backwards, wincing in pain as he grasped at his head, putting pressure on his scalp to relieve the pain.

After several seconds, he tried to extend his arms and legs and only hit metal grids on every side of him. He realized that he was in a cage, and in a panic he began kicking at the metal, trying to break it. Nothing he did had any effect on the cage wall, and even his semblance was refusing to answer his commands. The combination of the effort and the fear forced him to stop and breathe, closing his eyes as he began thinking through the situation.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Monday_

 _7/6_

 _0800_

Yang slid down the bench to Blake, who had immersed herself in a notebook. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked the other girl cheerfully. Blake answered in a much more subdued voice as she closed the notebook. "Nothing, just going over notes from last semester." Yang playfully frowned at her as she caught some sort of food in her mouth. "Lame!"

Blake drew in breath to respond to Yang, but her plan to respond was cut short by a heavy-sounding "Thump!" She, along with Weiss and Yang, looked to the head of the table, to see Ruby and a six inch binder on the table in front of her. There appeared to be something written on the cover in Weiss's handwriting, but whatever it was had been obscured by Ruby crossing it out and writing "Best day ever activities" on top of it.

"Friend! Sister! Weiss," Ruby declared, ignoring Weiss's declaration of offense in favor of continuing delivering her plan for the day. "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream. A dream that the four of us would come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone's ever had ever!"

Ruby stopped speaking for a moment to draw breath, and Weiss took advantage of the pause. "Did you steal my binder?" In a panic, Ruby said the first thing that came to mind. "I am not a crook!" she declared. She then continued speaking, but in a more serious tone. "Look, the school year's about to become very busy. The Vytal Festival is in a few months and exchange students are starting to arrive even now! The second semester is starting in a couple days, and that's probably going to increase our workload on its own, without the festival on top of it. I just want one day before it all gets crazy."

Weiss sighed, understanding where her partner was coming from. "Alright, Ruby. What are you talking about?" Ruby pointed at Weiss dramatically. "I'm talking about starting the semester off with a bang!" However, her dramatic and energetic delivery was quickly hijacked by her sister, who stated, "I always like to start things with a _Yang!_ " Said girl looked around with an enormous grin on her face. "Eh? Get it?" The other three just shook their heads before an apple flew by their heads, one that Yang caught and threw back with a growl.

"I dunno. I'm not really feeling up to any group activities. I may just sit this out, guys," Blake said quietly. Weiss spoke up. "Whatever we do, whether it's fun activities or just relaxing, we need to do it as a team. I propose -" However, it would seem that Weiss's plan was destined to not be fulfilled, for at that moment she was interrupted by a scream from Nora – "I got it!" – and a pie to the face. Weiss froze, unable to believe that that sloth-obsessed girl had the temerity to throw a pie in her face! She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, attempting to calm down. After several more seconds and several more deep breaths, she raised her hands to eyes and wiped the pie off her face. Once she reopened her eyes, she witnessed a very different scene from the one that existed when she closed her eyes.

Somehow, in the few seconds she had closed her eyes, the cafeteria had been completely rearranged. Not only had nearly all the people present, students AND faculty, evacuated the room, but many of the tables had been piled up at the end, with several tables and vending machines stacked around the base. Nora had ascended the tower of tables, declaring in a menacing voice "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" with the rest of her team arrayed around the base.

As Weiss attempted to process just what had happened, she saw her partner and leader stand up, pointing at JNPR, which Weiss realized was now temporarily her enemy, with a box of milk clutched in her other hand. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" the young excitable girl retorted. "It will be," she finished, crushing the milk carton, "Delicious!" The other three girls of RWBY stood up behind her, their fists in the air and a cry of victory from their hearts. Weiss realized that this would not be a food fight, but an all-out war.

In the future, when biographers interviewed teams RWBY and JNPR, this would be one of their most important moments. Barring the fight against the Nevermore and Deathstalker in initiation, which was also a significant moment for biographers to write about, this was the first chance the two teams had a chance to actually fight as a team.

Unfortunately for said biographers, only three-fourths of RWBY remembered this battle of the buffet. For Weiss, everything was a blur, starting from the moment she declared her support to General Ruby, all the way to when she found herself flying through the air and hitting a pillar, hard. She was vaguely conscious of Ruby holding her, and was able to recover her faculties in time to see Ruby's big finish, where she created a shock wave and slammed JNPR into the wall.

Afterward, when all was said and done and Professor Goodwitch had restored the cafeteria to its proper state, the two teams cleaned up and adjourned to the library, for JNPR to read and study and for RWBY to play a board game. Most were having fun, except for Debbie Downer, Blake. Sun and his buddy showed up, and as if it was her cue in a play, Blake promptly left the library.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _?_

 _?/?_

 _?_

Verdan was very uncomfortable. For starters, the cage was simply not big enough to lie down in comfortably, and sitting up all the time grew to be awkward. Secondly, for some odd reason, he had not been able to sleep. He felt tired, certainly, but he was unable to fall asleep. Finally, he was adrift in time. His watch would not light up, nor would the HUD of his goggles, so he was unable to check the time or have light. Every so often, he would hear a part of the cage being opened and would find food on the floor. However, the time between meals constantly varied. Some meals would come when he felt like he was about to die of hunger, others when he was still full from the previous meal.

With no idea of when he was or where he was, no comfortable position to rest in, and the terrifying absence of all light, Verdan was miserable. To compound it all, he was constantly kicking himself mentally for being captured. _How could I have been so stupid,_ he would think. _I should have been more aware, I should have realized something was going on. What an end to my short career as a trainee, captured and caged._ Constantly beating himself up, he waited. For something, anything to happen.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Monday_

 _7/6_

 _1730_

Yang, Ruby, and Weiss entered their dorm room, Yang complaining about the game's outcome. "We should never have let him play!" Ruby just shook her head at her whining sister. "You're just mad cause the newbie beat you at our own game! If you had just followed my advice and attacked, we'd be the winners right now!"

Blake, who was sitting on her bed when the other three came in, tried to quietly slink out and avoid them. As soon as she touched the doorknob, however, the voice of Weiss Schnee rang out. "Hold on a minute, Blake!" Blake froze and turned to face her teammate. "Lately you've been introverted, antisocial, and moody!"

Yang interjected a comment of her own. "Have you met Blake, Weiss?"

Weiss turned to look at Yang, an irritated look on her face. "More than usual!" She turned back to Blake. "I understand that you're normally like that to a degree, but there is clearly something wrong with you. After the docks, we all agreed that we would share if something were wrong. So, Blake Belladonna, what is wrong?" Weiss finished in a loud, firm question. After several seconds, she realized that she had somehow wound up perched on a chair balancing on two legs. She quickly jumped down, restoring the chair to its proper position.

Blake sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about Torchwick and the White Fang. I don't understand how everyone can be so calm. Something big is going to happen, I'm sure of it!"

"I'm sure Ozpin's got a handle on it. Guy seems like he knows everything that goes on in Vale," Yang said. "Plus the police and Huntsmen are keeping a watch out."

"I'm not sure!" Blake cried out. "I know the White Fang, and everything is pointing to something very big and very bad happening! I want to be part of the investigation, I can help."

"Look, I'm sure you all think you're ready to go out and take down these ne'er-do-wells," Weiss began before being interrupted by Ruby. "Who?" Ignoring the interruption, Weiss finished her sentence. "but let me remind you that we are all students. First years. We literally haven't even started the second semester yet! We're just not ready!"

"And we may never be! They're not going to sit around, being nice and patient until we graduate!" Blake exclaimed. "We don't know what they're doing, and at this rate nobody does!"

Ruby perked up, a light bulb almost literally appearing over her head. "Alright then! All in favor of becoming the youngest academy graduates ever while single-handedly taking down a corrupt protest organization led by a notorious criminal, say aye!" she said, gesticulating wildly.

"Hahaha! Yes! I love stuff like this!" Yang chuckled.

"Could be fun. School's not very difficult, so I've got nothing better to do," Weiss mentioned.

"None of you said aye. . ." Ruby lamented.

"So we're all going to do this together?" Blake asked. Upon seeing the nods of her friends, she relaxed and smiled. "Thanks. This means a lot to me."

"What about Verdan? Are we going to include him in this?" Ruby asked, a sudden realization hitting her.

Weiss frowned. "I don't think he'd even want to be part of this. It sounds like he doesn't want to be around us or do things like this." The general mood of the room turned somber as everyone remembered what Verdan had let slip about his team. "We need to be careful, though. This could be dangerous."

Ruby nodded. "Maybe at least ask him when he gets back?" The other three just kinda looked at each other before Yang spoke up. "Sure, Ruby. We'll see if he wants to help when he gets back."

"Alright then! This Friday, we'll begin our investigation into Torchwick and the White Fang!" Ruby grinned as she looked around her friends, who all looked happy in their own way. This was going to be exciting!

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _?_

 _?/?_

 _?_

Motion. The first change in his environment in who knows how long. Verdan immediately broke out of his descending spiral of self-loathing, registering the motion in his inner ears. It did not feel like the cage was moving, but the innate sense of motion and balance that humans and Faunus have was telling him that he was. _Okay, let's just think for a minute, Verdan,_ he thought. _We're moving. That means that whoever has captured me as decided what they are going to do with me. That also means that wherever I was when I woke up, I was still there._

He tried to reach out with his Semblance, to feel any metal nearby or to give anything a magnetic field. As if his aura was never awakened, his Semblance simply refused to answer him. _Okay, so something's blocking my Semblance._ _I know it's been postulated that Atlas is working on t_ _echnology to do that. Could I have been stumbled into an Atlasian black site?_ _That'd be just my luck, too. Although it would be proof of all that is said about them._ A quiet crystalline cracking noise came into being before disappearing just as quickly, unheard by Verdan. His thoughts were cut short when he felt the cage bounce upward quickly, throwing him up. _Hm. . . Whatever inertia-dampening tech they were using is clearly not perfect, I actually felt that instead of just feeling like we were moving._

 _S_ _o the black ops team is restricting my Semblance, dampening any_ _momentum I have relative to the cage, and somehow absorbing any and all light in here. That's actually really advanced!_ _But whatever they're going to do with me, they've clearly decided on it._ _I suppose I have to prepare for whatever happens._

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Friday_

 _7/10_

 _1600_

After the first week of classes, RWBY prepared themselves to make good on their promises to Blake. "Alright, so here's the plan!" Ruby began. "Weiss and I will go to the CCT to check Schnee records." Weiss smirked as she planted a hand on her hip. "My access to the files will allow me to see if there are any other major Dust robberies in the other kingdoms."

Yang spoke up, reciting her own part of the plan. "I have some contacts on the shady side of town that know people. I'll talk to them, see if they can shake something out."

Blake finished the review with her own contribution. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and draw new recruits. I'll infiltrate, see what's going on."

Just before the four turned away to leave their dorm, they heard the voice of Sun from behind them. "Hey guys!" Startled, the four spun around to see Sun hanging upside down from. . . something out their window.

"Sun!" Ruby cried out in happiness at seeing her new friend. Weiss focused on more logical aspects of Sun's placement. "How. . . did you get up there?" Sun answered in a very nonchalant voice. "Oh, I do it all the time!" Weiss recoiled in shock and indignation. "You do what?" she questioned. "I climb trees all the time!" Sticking her head out the window, Weiss was able to confirm that Sun was, indeed, hanging from a limb by his tail.

Sun swung into the room, somersaulting and landing on his feet. "So whatcha guys doing? Can I help?" Blake shook her head. "Sorry, Sun. This is dangerous, I don't want to involve you."

Sun scoffed at her view. "Nah, you should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune along, after all!" Sun gestured out the window as he spoke. The four girls of RWBY poked their heads out of the window and saw Neptune on the small ledge outside their room. "'Sup?" he asked, before chuckling nervously. "Can I come in now? It's really high. . ."

Once safely inside, Neptune asked the same question that Sun had asked just moments earlier. "So, how can we help?" Blake and Ruby considered their offer for a moment, looking at each other before shrugging. "Sure, you can help," Ruby said. "Sun, you go with Blake. Neptune, you can go with Yang," she said as she pushed the latter towards Yang.

"Well," Weiss slowly interrupted. "Why don't you go with your sister?" Ruby looked back at her partner. "Then who would Neptune go with?" Weiss looked to consider the question, before fake-nonchalantly answering, "He could go with me." Ruby broke out into laughter. "Nah."

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Blake and Sun peered around the corner of a dark alley in the warehouse district of the city. They had managed to follow the signals posted around the city to reach this particular warehouse. There was a White Fang member posted outside a door, one that several mask-bearing Faunus civilians were entering now.

Blake and Sun withdrew around the corner, placing their own masks on their faces. One of the last signals had also marked a cache of the masks for (possible) recruits to pick up and use at the meeting. As Sun wiggled the mask to make sure it was well-seated on his face, he spoke up with a question that had been bothering him for a while. "What's with the masks?"

Blake turned to look at him. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we beat them to the punch and donned the faces of monsters."

Sun winced slightly, not expecting an answer that grim. "Kinda dark, isn't it?" he asked. Blake looked up at him. "So was the guy who started it." She turned around to leave the corner and, sufficiently freaked out now, Sun followed her. The bouncer at the door let them in, seeing that their animal traits were on full display.

They walked into the cavernous inside of the warehouse. There was a sort of stage at the end, constructed of cargo containers laid side by side. There was something massive on the stage, covered up by a large tarp with the White Fang logo. The meeting attendees were divided into two groups, the regular members on one side and the recruits on the other. Sun and Blake drifted to the back of the attendees group, looking around.

An imposing man in a more decorative-styled mask walked onto the stage, gesturing for the group to quiet down with his hands. "Thank you all for coming! I know you lead busy lives, so I'll get right to it! We have a special guest to speak to you today, one who has been very helpful in our mission. Please give him a warm welcome!" The man stepped back and Roman Torchwick walked out from around the cloth-covered object, a small brown, white, and pink woman following him but staying in the background.

"Thank you, thank you!" Torchwick said almost pompously. He ignored the cries of outrage and confusion that filled the building at his appearance, for there were many. "What's a human doing here?" a woman behind Blake and Sun called out.

"I'm glad you asked, deerie!" Torchwick began cheerily. "Let me begin by saying, humans are the worst!" He gestured to himself and slightly bowed as he continued. "Case in point. But as bad as the ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill humans like myself are, we're not the heart of the problem. We're just the symptoms! We've been indoctrinated to view you as animals and monsters! The real problem is the people in charge! The schools, the councils, the Huntsmen academies, all of them! Any and everyone with power, they are the real cause of your problems! They're all insects, that need to be eradicated. Luckily for you all, I'm the best exterminator you'll find!" Torchwick caught himself, adding in, "No offense to any rodents in the room."

Regaining his momentum, Torchwick continued his little speech. "As a demonstration of just how sincere I am in wanting to help you, allow me to show off a little gift I've brought!" Torchwick turned to the side and gestured behind him, at the massive shape. The tarp came falling off, revealing a giant weaponized mech.

Sun was instantly glad for his mask, as his eyes likely showed so much more nervousness and fear than he was okay with. "Eh, well, that's a big robot," he said weakly. He began looking around at everyone else who was cheering wildly, their opinion of Torchwick having made a 180º turn. He leaned in towards Blake to hear her better. "That's a prototype, how did they get that?" Slightly shrugging his shoulders at her, he returned his attention to the stage.

"This behemoth behind me is the Atlesian Paladin, the newest device off of Atlas's assembly lines, designed to protect us all from the _scary_ things in life! Thanks to our benefactor, we've managed to er, _snag_ a few before they hit mass production. Now, we have a few job openings in the southeast. If you'd like to join your brethren in your crusade for freedom, we can use all the hands we can get! If you still want to remain in the city, that's okay, but this is what I can offer you."

The cheers got louder and louder, and the new recruits followed the signals of the fancy-mask man directing them to the front of the room. "This is bad, this is very bad!" Sun whispered to Blake beside him. "What should we do?" When Blake didn't immediately answer, Sun's anxiousness ramped up another notch. Sun opened his mouth to get her attention when Torchwick began speaking again, cutting him off.

"Now, like the generous man I am, I've brought you a gift! A teaser of what will come, an appetizer, if you will! Neo, if you would be so kind?" The small rainbow girl stepped forward and made a gesture, and a shattering noise erupted above everyone. Everyone looked up, to see a black cube hanging from a winch on the ceiling, revealed by what appeared to be shattering glass.

"Some mutual friends of ours managed to pick up a Huntsmen trainee poking his nose about where he shouldn't have been. They handed him over to me, so I brought him here as a gift to you all! And as a bonus, he comes with a free weapon! Who wants it?" Torchwick asked as Neo returned from behind the mech, bringing him a familiar-looking rifle tied to a satchel.

"Uh. . . Blake? Does that rifle look familiar to you?" Sun asked worriedly. "Yes. It does look familiar," Blake said with a tone of anxiety in her voice. She glanced up to the cube of black hanging from the ceiling. As everyone around them began cheering and holding their hand up, trying to get Torchwick to throw them the weapon, Blake and Sun raised their hands to blend in.

"Here! Catch!" Torchwick threw the rifle into the crowd, one of the recruits in front of Sun and Blake catching it. "And now to hand off the main course!" Torchwick raised his cane and the base flipped up, revealing the cane as a long launcher of some sort. He fired the launcher at one of the purple-outlined black spines emanating from the black cube. There was the noise of shattering crystal and every one of the spines exploded into shards, raining down on the crowd below. The black cube suddenly vanished, replaced by a cage containing one Verdan Allen.

 **Ω Chapter End Ω**

 **AN: Here's chapter 6! This is when the first divergences from canon start to show up, bonus points if anyone can pinpoint the next major canon change coming from this!** **Yang, Neptune, Ruby, and Weiss's events were unchanged from the show, which is why I didn't show them. I did show the preparations, the confrontation with Blake, and describe the food fight and board game to provide a little bit of context and line up with the show for a last little bit.**

 **I would have gone all the way to the Paladin battle, but that would have made this thing really, really, long, and I was running up against my self-deadline for time between chapters.**

 **To answer New Universe Returns's review: Well, we'll just have to see if they're still going to help him, won't we? However, I can give you a hint: would I really have put OC and RWBY as the main characters if they weren't going to be working together? (No, I wouldn't have.)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this, the early bird gets the worm, and God bless!**

 **What could have caused the black field around Verdan's cage? Hm. . . I wonder. . .**


	7. Chapter 7: Stand By For Titanfall

**Chapter 7: Stand By for Titanfall**

 _Friday_

 _7/10_

 _2056_

"Did I say this was bad?" Blake heard Sun ask from her right. "Because it's not bad anymore. It's worse!" Blake shushed him. "I'm trying to think, give me a second."

When Blake and Sun originally came into the meeting, they did not have any concrete plans for a quick escape. Due to the fact that they were Faunus, which meant that the White Fang had no reason to suspect they were moles, and the fact that the masks concealed their faces, the odds of them being discovered and having to make a fast getaway were low. But with Verdan suddenly appearing as a prisoner, Blake had to scramble for a plan.

Verdan squinted his eyes, trying to see. After being in a cage of complete darkness for who-knows-how-long, any light was like the noonday sun. After nearly a minute of blinking and squinting, he was able to see, to some degree at least. He got up from his sitting position and squatted, setting the cage swaying. Gripping the bars of a wall to brace himself, he took in his surroundings.

 _Fah, the White Fang,_ he thought, seeing the gray and white uniforms below him. The next thing he saw was someone he thought he recognized as a famous criminal on a stage at the end of the room. _Roman. . . Candle, isn't it? And whoa! Look at the size of that thing!_ This last exclamation was prompted by the sight of the giant Atlesian Paladin on the stage. He immediately began examining it, trying to figure out how it worked and what armament it contained. _This is not the time for that, Verdan._ Diverting away from that train of thought, he continued looking around the room.

Blake glanced around the room quickly, trying to think of something. _There's a window on the second floor, we'd just have to climb the catwalk fast enough._ She broke out of her thoughts for a moment as the crowd pressed her and Sun forward. She looked at the cage out of the corner of her eye. _If we can get him down_ _we can get out. But how to get him down and not get caught? That'd take at least ten, twenty seconds._ Her eyes fell on a small panel at the back wall of the warehouse, the plan resolving into one idea like the final pieces of an enormous puzzle.

Sun felt Blake nudge him and leaned over slightly to hear her. "When I give you the signal, shoot out that light panel with your weapon then steal the rifle and satchel from that guy, got it?" Sun nodded, before realizing something. "Wait, what's the signal?" He turned to see Blake weaving her way towards the center of the room. He sighed. "This is gonna go well."

Looking down, Verdan saw that the people below him were not all in the gray and white of the White Fang. A good third of the room was wearing colorful civilian clothing. _Hm. A recruiting session or something?_ A monochromatic spot caught his attention and his eyes widened, recognizing the girl and her companion. _WHAT? What are they doing here? I told them to STAY OUT OF IT. Gah!_ He slapped the bars of the cage out of frustration, sending it swinging and knocking him to the floor.

Blake slowly weaved between the mass of people crowding the front, winding up at the boundary between the two groups of people on the floor. She remained hidden as much as she could, watching the front. A rattling noise from above drew her attention. She glanced up at Verdan and saw the cage swinging back and forth. _He better stop swinging or this'll never work!_ As soon as she saw Torchwick turn away to speak to his compatriot, she acted with speed.

She withdrew her weapon, splitting it into two as she did. She threw the inner blade upward at the chain to Verdan's cage, firing it as she did so to give it more speed. The people around her gasped and froze from shock. Her aim was true, the blade flew upward and spun into the chain, cleanly severing a link. The cage crashed down to the ground, Verdan curling up to protect himself. When it hit the ground, Blake sliced the lock off with the cleaver sheath and pulled Verdan out.

When Sun heard a gunshot from the direction Blake had disappeared to, he assumed it was the signal. Drawing one of his nunchuks from his belt under his shirt, he took aim and fired at the panel Blake had pointed out. The lights immediately failed. While all Faunus could see in the dark, it took several seconds to adjust fully, and foreknowledge of the darkness shortened this reaction time. Due to this, Sun and Blake were immediately able to see, while the rest of the Faunus in the room were left blind.

Holding tightly onto Verdan's arm to drag him along with her, Blake rushed through the crowd to the stairway to the catwalk she noticed earlier, pushing people down and into others to delay them as much as possible. "Ow, get off me, you crazy lady!" Verdan exclaimed as he tried to pry Blake's fingers off his arm as they ran. _Some gratitude,_ she thought. They reached the stairs and she released his arm, grabbing the safety rails to pull herself up faster. Looking over her shoulder as she climbed, she was grateful to see that not only had Verdan caught on and started climbing right behind her, Sun had reached the stairs seconds behind them.

"C'mon, you two!" Blake called out as she saw White Fang troopers running after them, having picked themselves up off the floor nigh-immediately. Roman's voice rang out across the warehouse, declaring "Leave them to me!" A strange mechanical noise emanated from the platform, increasing in pitch.

Reaching the catwalk, Blake ran along the metal plates until she reached a window that she thought she remembered opened to the beautiful view of another, shorter warehouse. Muttering a quick prayer that she was right, she pushed off with her right leg, jumping into the window as she pushed her aura to the front of her body, reinforcing herself as much as possible.

Sun trailed behind Blake and Verdan, jumping out the window after the previous two, landing on the roof of the nearby warehouse. Sun and Blake landed on their feet, never stopping running. Verdan rolled as he landed, before pushing up out of a crouch and running once more when he stopped. A heavy thumping noise made Sun look back, just in time to see the Atlesian Paladin that had previously been on display crash through the wall behind them, running alongside the warehouse they were on. "I don't suppose you've got backup?" he asked Blake in a loud, panicky voice.

"On it!" Blake answered quickly, pulling out her scroll. Struggling to maintain a good grip on it as she ran across the rooftops, she opened up a conference call between all five members of her team, Verdan having been automatically added when the school software linked him to the team. "To all who can hear me, we need backup!" she called out, idly noting in the back of her mind that her voice sounded funny coming from Verdan's scroll behind her, then idly noting once more that it was strange he still had his scroll.

"Like, right now!" Sun yelled out from behind Blake. She rolled her eyes at his antics, but let him continue to call out without hanging up. In the brief pause for Sun to breathe, she heard Weiss cut into the conversation. "Where are you?" Ignoring her and not giving Blake a chance to talk, Sun continued calling out. "We're being chased by a giant robot! And that Torchwick guy is in there! But, it didn't eat him! He's like, controlling it!" As the rows of buildings finally ended, giving way to the outskirts of the entertainment district, the three runaways were forced to abandon their high ground for the roadway.

Verdan started yelling to Blake, who was several feet ahead of him. "Not that I'm not grateful for you two getting me out, Belladonna, but what were you doing there? I told you to stay out of it!" Blake may have shaken her head, Verdan could not tell from the motion of running. "We went in there for our own purposes, Allen," she replied harshly. Verdan snarled, that was no better! Shelving that discussion for a later date, he looked over his shoulder.

"Sun!" Verdan called out. "Give me my gun!" Sun untangled the strap of the rifle and satchel from his shoulder and tossed them back to Verdan. Verdan caught them and untied the two pieces, slinging the satchel over his shoulder and gripping his rifle. At this point, the deserted road they were running on merged into a busy highway, one of the high-tech ones with solid light barriers preventing cars from running off the edge and falling various distances to the ground below.

Blake and Sun jumped onto two of the cars speeding by, but Verdan skidded to a halt. _If I tried that, I'd be flattened! I'm not that agile, I'd be-_ He broke off as the giant mech jumped up onto the onramp behind him. No longer thinking about what he was doing, he jumped toward the highway, using the magnets in his boots and his semblance to give him a boost. As he fell, he reached out with his semblance, trying to make a car attract his boots.

Verdan succeeded in his desperate gamble, but only barely. As he fell towards the road, time seemed to slow around him. _At least my debt will be paid._ Just before he fell too low, a semirig drove right beneath him, giving him a place to land. He stumbled for a second, nearly stumbling right off the side of the truck, righting himself just in time.

The sound of heavy footsteps behind him informed Verdan that there was no time to lose, he had to get moving that instant. He started running, pushing off the roof of the cab to jump to the next car in front of him, briefly flipping the polarity of the cab's roof so it would repel his feet. As he landed on the car's roof, it swerved, trying to throw off whatever had hit it. Verdan knelt, leaping off as soon as the car was in line with the next car ahead. The third car thankfully stayed on pace, allowing Verdan to keep running across the roof before jumping, maintaining his momentum. "Wait up, Belladonna!" he cried out, trying to catch up to Blake and Sun.

Yang manipulated the throttle on Bumblebee, pushing forward until she was only several meters behind the mech. "Neptune, hit it!" Neptune stood up on the back of the motorcycle as Yang struggled to keep it as balanced as possible, not wanting to knock him off. She heard the shifting of machinery then saw blue bolts of electricity fly over her head toward the back of the mech, doing absolutely nothing. "Get me closer!" Yang fed more gas to the engine, allowing the motorcycle to creep forward until the mech was merely a stone's throw away. She heard more mechashift activating, followed by Neptune jumping forward, stabbing his glaive into the back of the mech.

Sun looked back as he heard his friend's voice, stopping his running briefly to see Neptune hanging off the mech by the staff of his glaive. "Neptune, hold on!" Sun held his hands together and began concentrating as he activated his Semblance.

Contrary to appearances, Sun did not always make things up as he went. While he appeared to live by that philosophy, he preferred to have a plan. In most of his life, this would just be generalities, but in combat he wanted to know specifics. He would research, scout, do whatever he needed to do to have information before he went into a fight. After he unlocked his aura and his Semblance began developing, it grew to support this tendency. Sun's Semblance became what he called Crash Test. It allowed him to spawn two clones of himself, one wielding his weapon and one not. These two clones would then begin attacking his enemy, testing several different attack methods at once. Sun would then have the knowledge of the best plans of attack.

After both of his clones spawned, tested, and combusted, Sun pulled out his weapon and shifted it into his staff form, jumping forward to attack the Paladin. He swung down as he fell towards the mech, striking it on the cabin and firing one of his shells to create a concussive blast. As he fell, however, he missed seeing the arm come up towards him. Whether it was to attack him, attack something else, or defend from him, he did not know. What he did know is that the arm hit him, causing him to fly back over the body of the mech instead of falling to the ground. As he went over the body of the Paladin, he hit Neptune, dislodging his friend's polearm and allowing them both to fly off the side of the highway.

Yang sped up, passing by the Paladin and matching speed with Verdan. "When'd you show up?" she yelled over the noise of the wind. "Not too long ago!" he yelled back. Yang waved her hand at him, indicating to get on her bike. "Hop on, we've got a plan!" she yelled. Once Verdan had hopped on her bike behind her, she drove faster, passing something white in the middle of the road, transformed into a blur by their speed. "Wait, was that Schnee?" Verdan shouted into her ear. Yang answered in the positive as said girl's voice came over their scrolls. "We're in position!"

Yang didn't respond, focusing on waiting for the right time to stash her bike real quick and jump into the coming fight. Over the scroll system she heard a crackling noise, what she assumed was Ice Queen's ice spreading across the road towards the mech. "Hang on!" she yelled back to Verdan and felt his hands grip her sides even tighter as she spun the bike around and stopped it on the shoulder of the road. "Let's go!" She then heard a crashing noise behind her, followed by a shattering noise, indicating that the trap had worked: the mech had slipped, fallen, and slid right though the hard light barrier to the ground below.

Verdan released his death grip of the hothead, dizzy for a second. After the dizziness subsided, he stood up off the bike and vaulted over the barrier, following Yang. The pair landed on the ground, standing up to face the Paladin, Rose, Schnee, and Belladonna standing in front of them. "Stand by for titanfall," Verdan murmured as they all assumed battle-ready poses. "Red, how nice of you to drop by! And you've brought some friends, too!" Roman's voice rang out from the megaphones mounted to the outside of the Paladin.

Not bothering to respond to Roman's address, Ruby instead commanded "Scatter! Fire at will!" All five broke out of their pattern, running around and attacking the enormous Paladin. Weiss switched to the low-grade Dust in her rapier, shooting plasma beams out at the mech, dashing around with her glyphs to avoid the machine-gun fire. Yang was running around, punching at the legs. Even with her kinetic shells, however, she had little effect; the armor was just too strong. Ruby was dashing around, slicing at the legs whenever she thought she could hit a weak point, of which there were few. Blake was trying to draw the fire, jumping around the battleground and lashing out at the mechanical monster with her ribbon-blade like a whip. Verdan was strafing the mech, holding down the trigger of his rifle like there was no tomorrow.

Slowly, Roman began to gain the upper hand. Yang was the first to be struck, a massive backhand sending her skidding back nearly ten meters. Blake was the next to go, the machine exhibiting quicker reflexes than should be possible and grabbing the blade on the end of her ribbon. Roman pulled, swinging her around by the end of the ribbon wrapped around her arm. She crashed into Yang, who had just started running back into the fight, knocking them both to the ground. Verdan was next, a mortar extending from the back of the Paladin and arcing a shell right into Verdan. Blake and Yang dragged his dazed body back from the fight, their instincts to protect their allies overcoming their distaste for him. Weiss fell next, a stream of plasma reflecting off the mech's skin right into her path, burning her left arm. She quickly dashed back to where Blake and Yang had dropped Verdan before charging in to attack. With nobody else attacking him for the moment, Roman was able to focus his attention and attacks on Ruby. Within seconds, several bullets had struck Ruby, diminishing her aura and interfering with her momentum enough for Roman to kick her away.

Yang dropped back to help her sister to her feet as Blake regained the attack on the Atlesian armored unit. Blake changed up her attack scheme, knowing that Roman would be watching for her to repeat her previous plan. Instead of attacking from a distance with her kusarigama as she previously had, she instead began leaping around the mech, slashing with her cleaver, now slipped over the katana. Unfortunately, she leaped right into Roman's fist, so she wound up being knocked back to meet up with her teammates once more, the five of them watching the machine and muttering to each other as they tried to think of a new plan of attack.

"Targets grouped together. Advise use mortar or main cannons," the computer observed. "Ooh, I do like options. . ." Roman opened the cover on a switch before flipping the switch. "Computer: Activate main cannon!"

On the mech's arms, gears and linkages began moving as the machine guns folded away and two enormous cannon barrels extended from the arms. There was the brief rattle of machinery and a loud "kachunk" noise. Crouched behind the four girls, Verdan's eyes widened as he realized just what was about to happen. _Must. . . move. . . fast enough!_ As the four main members of team RWBY began to split to the left and the right to avoid the incoming explosion, moving slowly due to their injuries and exhaustion, Verdan moved from a crouch to a run, stopping several meters in front of the group. "Verdan! What are you doing?" Ruby called out, moving forward to grab Verdan and pull him along. Verdan ignored her and raised his hands before dropping them quickly, gesturing to the ground.

Roman grinned as the computer informed him, "Preparations complete. Main cannons ready to be fired." He thumbed the button to activate the external announcement system and called out, "Well, Red, this is the end of the line!" He pulled the triggers on the control handles, firing the cannons.

The four girls of team RWBY cringed as they moved backwards as quickly as they could, before Ruby broke the grip of her sister and dashed forward to grab Verdan by the shoulder. "Come on, we've got to move!" Verdan ignored her, his eyes screwed shut. Ruby pulled harder, but Verdan's feet were glued to the ground. Ruby realized that must have magnetized them began pulling on his arm. Yang rushed forward to grab her sister. "Ruby! We have to get-" She was cut off by the tinny voice of Roman Torchwick emanating from the mech. "Well, Red, this is the end of the line!" The two cannons fired with a boom, and Ruby and Yang stood and watched as their immanent severe injury came closer, Blake and Weiss calling their partner's names. Suddenly, halfway between Verdan and the mech, the shots took a nosedive and hit the ground, exploding.

Roman growled. "What the hell just happened?" After a brief second, the computer responded, "Unknown magnetic anomaly approximately seven meters away. Cause unknown." Roman snarled, before pulling the triggers again and again and again.

Ruby and Yang watched as the Paladin fired shot after shot after shot, each one dropping to the ground and exploding in the same spot. Ruby jumped as she heard Verdan speak in a strained tone. "Drop back and plan. . . This, ergh, this isn't going to last forever!" She muttered her assent as she pulled her sister back with her to meet with Weiss and Blake, inspiration striking her.

"Warning: Cannon ammo nearly depleted." Roman ceased firing, choosing to leave the last shots left for the final blow. When he saw the boy turn around, he decided to use one of his last few shots.

"Ready!" Ruby called out to Verdan, who nodded. He dropped the magnetic shield and turned to rejoin the other four, only to hear one final shot. He jerked around and started to raise his arm, but the shot was too close and hit the ground directly in front of him, exploding and sending him flying through the air. He turned as he fell, trying to land on his feet. He failed. He landed on his back. _C'mon! Breathe!_ he told himself after the breath was knocked out of him. He stood up slowly, hearing a crunch underneath him. He looked down to see a drone of some sort crushed where he fell. "Whoops," he muttered. He heard someone cheer and looked up to see people on the bridges watching over the edge, scrolls out, most likely filming.

Meanwhile, the four girls of RWBY had regrouped and were ready to carry out their plan. "Weiss! Yang! Freezerburn!" Ruby directed the pair to carry out one of their paired attacks. Weiss stabbed the ground with Myrtenaster, using her ice Dust to create a slippery sheen across the ground. Yang jumped up and dived toward the ground, firing Ember Celica as she did so. The heat of her kinetic shells combined with the cold of the ice sheet created a cloud of mist, concealing them from view.

In the control cabin of the Atlesian Paladin, Roman cursed. "Visual integrity compromised," the automated alert system informed him. "Would you like to switch to LIDAR?" Pressing a button on the wall to confirm, Roman waited. When it had not immediately activated, he pressed the button again. "Activate, dammit!" Outside, lasers began emanating from the body of the Paladin.

"Checkmate! Go!" Ruby called out, Blake and Weiss dashing forward to carry out her orders. She watched as the Paladin fired a barrage of rockets at the duo, Weiss creating a momentary shield with Myrtenaster. The two began working forward, slashing and stabbing at weak points. Weiss leaped up with a glyph, stabbing the main scanner turret on the front of the mech. "Withdraw!" Ruby ordered, already planning out the next move in their coordinated plan, her quick thoughts an advantage. Her mind always worked faster than most people's did; that was how she was simultaneously a prodigy and klutz, both mentally and physically, at the same time.

Blake and Weiss began backflipping away from the Paladin, before a hatch opened up, revealing a reloaded missile pod. They fired at the monochromatic duo, being avoided by Blake but impacting Weiss. As Weiss fell, Blake saw her fire off a golden glyph, landing right at Blake's feet and making the image of a speeding clock. Time seemed to slow down around Blake, as everything went into slow motion. Recognizing the effects of Weiss's newest ability, the haste glyph, Blake dashed into action. She ran towards the rockets, slicing them in half before they even had a chance to detonate. Returning to the haste glyph, she channeled powdered Dust into her cleaver, swinging it to create a massive plasma wave that destroyed the last of the rockets.

"Fire at will!" Ruby commanded, and everyone scattered. Ruby began dashing around, slicing at the feet of the giant mech with her scythe. Yang began launching her shells at the mech, trying to damage anything unarmored. Blake was hacking away with her sword and cleaver and Weiss was kneeling to the side, recovering from her effort and the hit she took. Verdan, who had by this time limped back to the main battle, stood for a moment, watching their work and thinking. _Rose and Belladonna are an effective team. Their quick movements prevent the Paladin from getting a shot off at them, and their slices are useful against unarmored areas._ _Hothead is absolutely useless against an armored opponent like this._

Verdan began going through his bag, looking for his explosive Dust. After several seconds of searching, realization struck him. "Curses!" he spat out, switching to looking for his fire Dust. Weiss, who was now doing the awkward half-kneel propped up with Myrtenaster, asked, "What's wrong?" Verdan answered as he continued to rifle through his bag. "Those," he clearly struggled trying to find the right word, "rebels stole my destructive dust!" Making up his mind, he withdrew a clip and inserted it into his rifle, cycling the intake gate lever. Verdan began firing at the Paladin, sending yellow crystals flying through the air to hit the control cabin and shatter on impact, sending lightning arcing across the metal body.

"Warning," the computer alerted Roman. "Power surges detected on external hull. Diverting to ground now." Roman ignored the warning as he focused on trying to shoot, punch, or squish the two girls running around his feet. "Stay still ya little runts," he muttered as he stomped around, the external cameras and wraparound display giving him a perfect view of two teenage girls evading him.

"Yang, fall back! Blake, ladybug on right arm!" Ruby called. As Yang stopped firing and stepped back several meters, Blake and Ruby got in position. Ruby nodded her head, signaling to Blake. As one, they dashed forward and jumped up, slicing at the shoulder joint to the right arm. After two passes, Ruby felt a bit of give in the joint. On the final pass, the linkages holding the arm on fell into pieces, and the arm fell to the ground useless.

The cockpit shook as the arm fell off, the weight now unbalanced. A glance to the status window in the corner of the display alerted Roman to the fact that he had one final missile in the pod. Taking aim at Red, whose back was turned, he fired. She must have been distracted by her success, as the missile was a direct hit. Or would have been, had something not destroyed it mid-flight! Gritting his teeth, Roman manipulated the controls to zoom in. The clearing smoke showed the yellow-themed girl standing there, fist outstretched. It was easy enough to infer what happened, she must have punched the missile and detonated it prematurely. Grinning maliciously, Roman manipulated the controls to charge forward.

Ruby scrambled away before standing up, watching her sister stand in the way of the charging mech. She dodged several punches and stomps before getting slammed by a cannon shot and getting punched into a pylon. Blake, who had been standing by Ruby anxiously started forward before getting held back by Ruby. "Wait. She'll be okay. She absorbs the kinetic energy from every hit and redirects it to fuel herself. It's her Semblance, Kardas Dragon."

They watched as Yang stood up, eyes brilliant red and hair glowing brightly. She ran forward towards the Paladin, meeting its fist with her own, to the amazement of the four bystanders. She pushed forward, making the mech stumble backward. It shifted its fist away, revealing the main cannon.

"Warning: cannon integrity low. Recommend avoid firing at all costs." Roman growled, the perils of prototypes! "Ignore warning: fire main cannons!" he declared forefully, fingering the trigger once more.

Shots began launching out of the cannon, each impacting Yang and making her only glow brighter. She ran forward and slid under the next punch Roman threw, only to be kicked and start sliding backward.

Hearing more cheering and clapping from above, Verdan looked up. Weiss followed his example, as did Ruby and Blake when they met with pair. "Well I'm glad _they're_ having a good time!" Verdan said sarcastically.

Yang bounced back up, running toward the mech once more. When Roman kicked out at her once more, she leaped up to avoid it. Unfortunately, Roman expected this and quickly shifted the fist of the mech back into place, punching Yang back.

"Blake! Bumblebee!" Ruby called out. Blake understood her meaning and threw her kusarigama to Yang, leaving the end of the ribbon wrapped around her arm, while running back to be in a clear area. Yang grabbed the grip of the ribbon-blade, allowing Blake to set her feet and redirect Yang's momentum. Yang's feet touched ground and she began running, spinning around and around the pivot point of Blake, building up speed.

"We have to hold the Paladin back!" Ruby exclaimed to Weiss and Verdan. "How in the world are we supposed to do that? We couldn't do it with five, you expect to do it with three?" Weiss answered skeptically. "We'll use ice flower!" Ruby decided, trusting that with context, Weiss would understand what she meant. She pulled her scythe back out, slamming the tip into the ground to steady it. She knelt down, looking down the sights of the rifle aspect of her weapon as Weiss summoned one of her freeze glyphs in front of the muzzle. She began firing, slightly pivoting her weapon after each shot to keep Roman in the sights.

Verdan watched as shot after shot hit the Paladin, bursts of ice forming at every hit. _Well well well. This I can do!_ He dug in his bag with one hand as he pulled the clip out of Acceletor and dropped it back in the satchel. "Aha!" He pulled out a particular clip and quickly slammed it into his rifle, cycling the intake gate. Bracing it against his shoulder and taking aim, he began firing. His shots also made ice form on the mech, except his ice was filled with stone, adding even more weight to the machine.

"Move away!" Blake cried out. The other three did so, and at the moment that she was moving straight toward the mech, Yang released her grip of Gambol Shroud. She sped toward the mech, fist outstretched, battle cray in her throat. She felt her hand hit the point of the cockpit before the sheer heat dissipating from her body caused it to warp and flex under her fist. Milliseconds later, the entire control cabin fell apart into pieces and she felt her fist hit something squishy, before it flew back and she landed on the ground.

Roman pushed himself up off the ground, angrily brushing his suit off. "And I _just_ got this thing cleaned!" Roman looked up in time to see yellow quickly shot a shell at him, but Neo appeared and blocked it with her umbrella. Noticing the other three girls and the guy running towards their friend, he addressed them with a tip of hat. "Ladies. Gentleman. Ice queen." "Hey!" the one in white exclaimed indignantly. "It's been a pleasure, but I'm afraid our playtime is over, I have other pressing duties to attend to. Neo, if you would?" Neo bowed, and Roman felt the shift in reality indicating her illusions. He sprinted back to the bullhead he knew was behind him, concealed by Neo's Semblance. As they flew off, he watched them attack the illusion left behind.

"Neo, if you would?" The pastel girl apparently known as Neo bowed, and after nothing happened for several seconds, Yang dashed forward with a yell. Like hell she was going to let him get away! When she punched the girl, however, it felt like punching glass. The image of Roman and the girl shattered, revealing a bullhead flying away, Roman in the cargo bay. Yang took a deep breath, shutting down her Semblance. "Well I guess he got a new henchman," she said, still angry about Roman's escape.

Internally, Weiss perked up. This was her moment! Now was her opportunity! "Yeah. I guess she really made our plans. . . fall apart?" Inside, she grinned. Now they would see that Yang was not the only one who could make jokes! Ruby stifled a snicker. Yang, however, said, "No. Just, no." Weiss was flattened, how dare she? That is enormously hypocritical! "What? But you do it!" Yang explained her reasoning in a serious tone. "There is a time and a place for jokes." Weiss was confused. Why not now? "Was this not it?" Yang casually responded as she walked away, "No, it just wasn't very good." Weiss frowned as she turned away to follow. That was brilliant, just as good as hers! She was just under appreciated, that's all! As Verdan trudged past her, he said, "Don't worry, Weiss. I thought it was good." Weiss responded gratefully, "Thank you." Several seconds later, the penny dropped. _Did he really just use my name?_

The five looked upwards at the sound of clapping, cheers, and whistles. Everyone who had been watching was clapping for them, cheering and whistling at their success. The five started smiling and waving, flushed with their accomplishment. So involved were they in catering to their adoring fans they did not notice the bullhead landing until it was a few meters above the ground, the engines' airflow making a racket. They turned to watch as it landed and the door opened, revealing medical staff and Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin.

Ozpin was the first to step out, clapping with his cane tucked under his arm. "Well done, team RWBY. A masterful showing. Excellent work!" The medical team began filtering around Ozpin, splitting up to examine the five students. Ozpin approached Ruby to interview her briefly about the evening's events.

"Quite an exciting evening you've had, Miss Rose," he began, taking a drink from his coffee mug. "Tell me, how did this happen?" Ruby took a deep breath before launching into her explanation. "Well, you see, Blake's been worried about the whatever the White Fang is up to, so we decided we wanted to investigate their activities." Ruby continued babbling on, giving a description of the events of the night that at times was detailed and at others was superficial.

When Ruby was finished, Ozpin turned to look at Verdan, who was crouched by the wreckage of the Paladin, examining it. "And what about you, Mr. Allen? How did you get from Aldur Island to here?" Verdan stood up and turned to face Ozpin. "I was captured and imprisoned. Then Blake and Sun got me out when I showed up at the White Fang meeting. I would prefer not to go into detail right now." Ozpin nodded. "Very well. I interview you when I interview the rest of your team." He turned to survey the medics examining WBY and the battlefield beyond. "I think it is time we retire to Beacon for the night. Once Professor Goodwitch repairs the pylon, we should be off."

Verdan looked at the wreckage once more before looking at Ozpin. "Sir, may I keep this?" Ozpin shrugged. "If you can figure out a way to transport it back, be my guest." Verdan looked thoughtful for a moment, before realizing how to do it. He ran around to each piece, tapping it. Then he returned to the legs, the largest piece of debris, and tapped them. The pieces all slid together, stuck into one piece with his magnetization Semblance. "Just hover the bullhead close above this, it'll stick to the base." Ozpin nodded. "In that case, let us leave."

The medics boarded the bullhead, followed by the two professors and finally team RWBY. Verdan sat down heavily in a seat next to Ruby. The adrenaline leaving his body combined with the week-long lack of sleep left him unable to do anything but succumb as his eyes closed and his consciousness faded away.

 **ΩChapter EndΩ**

 **AN: So here's this chapter. Record time, five days! There are a couple references in here to other things, bonus points and a shoutout to anyone who can identify them. One's far more well-known than others.**

 **After this, we should diverge more and more from canon. As you can see here, I already expounded on what was in the show, to make things a little bit more serious and entertaining.**

 **So about cursing. I do not believe that it is a good thing, but sometimes it fits a character and seems almost out of place if they don't express strong emotion with swearing. So that is the rule I plan to write by in the future.**

 **If you don't mind, leave a review with your thoughts! They'd be appreciated!**

Special thanks to FanficCrossoverMaster15, who has volunteered to be my beta reader. I appreciate his willingness to preread the chapters and give me advice on changes.

 **See you next time, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and God bless!**


	8. Chapter 8: In Which Verdan is an Idiot

**Chapter 8: In Which Verdan is an Idiot**

 _Saturday_

 _7/11_

 _1130_

"-can finally get out of here, Yang?" Verdan would have groaned if he was willing to use the energy it would require. _Sleep. . ._ "Yep! Nurse cleared me, said I was fully healed from last night!" Verdan was being slowly dragged kicking and screaming, figuratively of course, into the world of the awake and was not happy about it at all. "She did say that my aura was not full yet, so I'm supposed to be careful and not exert myself for several days, but I should be all healed by the end of the week." _Raaaggghhhh!_ The noise was disturbing his rest, Verdan was not happy. "I'm glad that none of our team suffered any serious injury from last night." While Weiss's voice was normally perfectly satisfactory as far as voices go, to Verdan, who was clutching onto sleep was a death grip, it was annoyingly high-pitched and shrill. "Awwww! You do care, Ice Queen!" Weiss shrieked, "Get off me!" as Blake and Ruby giggled.

Verdan tried to do something, but he couldn't move at all. While it made sense, some form of sleep paralysis due to exhaustion, it was still very irritating, as it meant he couldn't even so much as give them a glare for being loud, let alone throw something at them. "Seriously, though," Verdan heard Weiss continue. "Last night was very hazardous, it's lucky we're in as good a shape as we are."

"Yeah! Team RWBY's tougher than any robot they can throw at us!" Yang said. Her declaration was accompanied with a dull thud that Verdan's sleep-befuddled mind said was either her bashing her fists together or someone dropping a five-kilo bag of gummy bears.

"We've certainly gotten better at working as a team," Blake said. "Our team attacks worked great. And, Sun and I managed to hear some important stuff at the meeting. We can use that and keep working on our investigation."

"I dunno about you girls, but I want lunch! Who's coming?" Yang asked. _Ooh, food sounds good,_ Verdan thought. He tried to move, but he was still mostly asleep. "Lunch sounds good. Weiss?" Blake asked.

"Sure, let's go. Come on, Ruby." Weiss grabbed Ruby, pulling her away over her protests of wanting to stay. With blessed silence reigning once more, Verdan slipped once more into sleep.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Saturday_

 _7/11_

 _1500_

When Verdan awoke, he felt refreshed and recovered from the previous night. Nobody was around, team RWBY having disappeared. He pulled his scroll out of his pocket and saw that it had a message alert. Checking the message, it appeared to be an automatically-generated message summoning him to Ozpin's office. He grabbed his gear from the table beside him, pulling on his coat and slinging his satchel and rifle across his shoulders.

Verdan made his way across campus to the CCT, entering the elevator to take him to Ozpin's office. The elevator doors slid open, revealing Ozpin's office. "Mr. Allen, please, have a seat," the man called from his desk. Verdan slowly walked in, taking in the view from the windows. Whatever his views of the man, he certainly had a good office. He sat down slowly. "You wanted to see me, sir?" he cautiously asked.

Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug before answering with a non sequitur. "How are you feeling? I understand you are suffering from a large case of sleep deprivation and aura exhaustion."

Verdan took a deep breath. "I'm feeling decent, sir. I'm still feeling tired, but I am obviously well enough to function. I believe it will take several nights of sleep to fully return to normal, though."

Ozpin nodded. "Good to hear. Now, I wanted to talk to you about your mission. Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Wukong told their story of when they ran into you last night. I want to hear from you what happened, as well as how you got there."

"Well, I got to Aldur Island on Saturday morning. Over the course of the week, I searched the reported area in a spiral pattern, traveling further out from my landing site. Oddly enough, I never encountered any Grimm. Is that normal?"

"Yes, it is. Aldur Island has always been rather devoid of Grimm, something that we have taken advantage of to set up settlements and a nature park," Ozpin explained.

Verdan nodded slowly, assimilating the fact into his knowledge of the Grimm. "Anyways, I explored the park, looking for any White Fang activity around the ruins. During my search, I encountered neither people nor ruins, well except for one hiker, until a week later, on Saturday. I met up with a forest ranger, or at least someone who wore the uniform of a forest ranger. This stranger decided to tag along with me. Then later that day, I ran across on old tower. It appears to only date from recently before the Great War, nothing too interesting. However, what was interesting was what had been done to it. A tunnel had been dug beneath the tower, with a trap door installed."

Ozpin set his coffee cup down on the desk to ask a question. "Could you locate this tower on a map?" Verdan sat back in his chair for a moment, considering the request. "Perhaps. I'm not sure. I could probably take you to it, though." Ozpin looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. "Then we shall send a mission to investigate this. You and your team will be a part of it."

Verdan frowned at a part of that last statement. "My team? My team is gone." Ozpin shook his head. "No, no. Your new team, team RWBY." Verdan crossed his arms. "They are not my team." Ozpin sighed under his breath before motioning for Verdan to finish his story.

"Let's see, I was. . . Oh, yes. I found the trap door, there was a bracket screwed into the floor holding a ladder up. The bracket was visible beside the trap door, that's how I found it. So I went down the ladder, the ranger following me. I found a tunnel, with signs of machine excavation on the walls. There were spotlights everywhere. I heard the ranger say something about me being in too deep, and when I turned around, he whacked me in the head with his shotgun. Looking back, I don't think he was actually a ranger. Could have been White Fang, he was a Faunus." Verdan breathed deeply, out of breath after talking without stopping.

Ozpin leaned his elbows on the desk. "Ms. Belladonna and Mr. Wukong told me you were in a cage, surrounded by blackness. Care to tell me how that happened?"

Verdan looked confused for a moment before speaking. "I'm. . . not quite sure, really. Like I said, the ranger knocked me out, and the next thing I knew, I was in that disorienting cage."

"Disorienting, how?" Ozpin asked Verdan.

"It was just, strange. There was no light coming into the cage, and nothing created light. Not my scroll, not my goggles, nothing. I couldn't even call using voice commands on the scroll. It said there was no signal. Time was strange, too. It felt like no time passed, even though in my head I knew it did. I never felt like I had to sleep, either. Knowing now that I spent a week in there, it's even weirder. And I couldn't feel movement, either. At least not until the very end."

"And what happened when the blackness ended?"

"I heard a cracking and shattering noise, and the blackness disappeared. I could see again, and I saw black crystals falling to the ground. I was hanging above a White Fang meeting, Blake busted me out, the mech started chasing us, and the rest you already know," Verdan finished.

"Black crystals, you say?" Ozpin asked, suddenly seeming much more intrigued than previously.

"Yes, black crystals," Verdan confirmed. "Is that important?"

"Nothing to worry about right now. I encourage you to go relax with your team, recover from this harrowing week."

And with that, the calm mood in the room shattered like a bullet meeting a mirror. Verdan stood up to leave as he loudly declared once more. "RWBY is not my team! _My_ team is fractured and gone. Dead!"

The office was quiet for a moment as the two looked at each other, Ozpin with his always-present calm face and Verdan looking rather angry. "Do you know why Huntsmen trainees are assigned to teams, Mr. Allen?" Ozpin asked in a teacher-like tone.

"Yes. 'Hunters and Huntresses are assigned into four-person teams at the start of their schooling. This is designed to teach them the values of teamwork and reliance on others. While some missions are capable of being fulfilled by one person, many missions require multiple people. By learning to work in four-person teams, trainees are able to work together with any other Huntsman they encounter.' I'll admit, it's a textbook definition, but it works," Verdan finished, curious to see the point behind Ozpin's non sequitur..

"It does sound excessively formal, but you're essentially right. Teams teach the ability to rely on others. No one Huntsman can stand against everything, but working together they are more effective. Tell me, could you trust your teammates?"

"With my life!" Verdan snapped. "And they trusted me," he continued sadly, looking down. "They trusted me and I failed them." He looked up at Ozpin. "You wanna know why I don't want a new team?" he asked Ozpin, the anger in his voice and the water in his eyes conveying opposing emotions. "I don't want to kill them too! They trusted me with their lives, and I let them down. I don't want to that to happen again."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed slightly. "But you are letting them down. You said it yourself, teammates are supposed to be able to trust each other. Whether you like it or not, temporary or not, you are a part of team RWBY. They _have_ to be able to rely on you," Ozpin said emphatically, "and right now, they cannot. In your effort to avoid the errors of the past, you are creating the same error in the future."

Verdan stared at Ozpin angrily, standing up. "No," he said coldy. "That will never happen." Verdan turned around and stormed into the elevator. Luckily, the door had remained open, otherwise his dramatic exit would not have worked. His mind seethed as he rode the elevator down. _How dare he?_ _I will not be responsible for anyone else's death!_ The elevator dinged as the doors opened, allowing Verdan to storm out of the elevator, not making an effort to avoid anyone in his way.

Verdan made his way to the back of the academy, embroiled in his own thoughts. When he reached a large tree, he climbed up it using his magnets. He reached a branch solid enough to hold his own weight and stopped climbing, instead perching upon the branch. He had always loved trees. Growing up in a desert town there were little trees, and what trees they did have were twisted and scraggly. When he attended Shade Academy, one of his favorite places was the greenhouses. Being around so much green growth had a calming effect on him, something he sorely needed right now.

It had been months since the incident. People had told him that the guilt and sorrow would pass, but it had not passed yet, and it did not appear to be going away anytime soon. People had tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but how could it not be? The search was his idea. It was his plan that led them to split up, and part of the research that led them to the abandoned factory was his.

He sat in silence for a while, brooding on the past. He remembered the good times he had had with his team. He gave a rueful chuckle as he remembered his teammates' idiosyncrasies. Leo's extraordinary laziness, which he defended by quoting Newton's second law: objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Blaze incessantly trying to make bets with people, and trying to weasel her way out of them when she lost. Nicole, always causing issues with other people when she didn't use her internal filter or missed a social cue, which happened often.

Thinking about his old team, a thought popped into Verdan's head, inspiration into his denial of a new team. Yes, part of the reason he had been adverse to the idea of a new team had been what he had been saying, a refusal to be responsible for anyone else, a refusal to let anyone down. However, there was another reason, one that he was concealing from himself without realizing it: he did not want to replace his friends.

Verdan's team had fallen apart. Two had died and the third had returned to her home. Despite their true condition, he did not want to accept the fact that their team would never again exist. He wanted to preserve their memory, and not corrupt it or cover it with a new team.

He heard a rustling in the tree behind him. Looking behind himself, he saw someone clamber up the tree, carefully gripping each branch as she pulled herself up. As the young woman reached Verdan's level, she glanced up and made eye contact with Verdan, pausing for a moment. "Oh, hey. Didn't expect to see anyone else up here." She finished climbing up to Verdan's level, crouching on a nearby limb. "How'd you get up here? I've been climbing this tree for months, so I've gotten good at it, but I've never seen you up here before."

Verdan looked at her for a moment before turning away to face the Emerald Forest once more. After several seconds with no response, the girl opened her mouth to speak again. She stopped when she heard Verdan speak. "Magnetism. I created a magnetic field in the trunk. Magnets in my gloves and boots."

She waited for a moment, expecting Verdan to say more. When he didn't, she introduced herself. "Hi, my name's Maggie. What's yours?" After a moment, Verdan responded in kind. "Name's Verdan," he said.

"So," Maggie asked cheerfully. "How ya doin?" Verdan didn't answer, making Maggie curious. "Doing well?" she asked, poking him in the side slightly.

Verdan remained silent. He really didn't want to talk, but perhaps it would help? He sighed. "No, I'm really not." He interlocked his hands backwards in front of him, pushing out and popping his knuckles. "If you had made a serious mistake, if you had failed someone that trusted you, what would you do? You would do everything you could to avoid doing the same thing over again, right?"

Maggie thought for a moment before slowly nodding her head. "Course I would! If someone relied on me, I'da do my best to ensure that they could always trust on me. I don't wanna disappoint my friends."

"What if you made the same mistake by trying to avoid it? What would you do then?" Verdan asked, his voice starting to sound slightly shaky.

"So it's either screw up or maybe screw up?" Maggie asked, confused. Taking the lack of a response as an affirmation, she continued. "Why, I'd take the chance!" she exclaimed, slamming her fist down on her other palm. "I'd stop tryin' ta avoid the mistake, embrace the chance that it might happen. Avoid the inevitable! Choose to fight it!"

Verdan whirled around to face Maggie. "Even if taking the chance might let them die?" he asked sharply, tears in his eyes. "Even if they might die?" he repeated weakly.

"Course! If the price a' failure's death, I'd do all I could to avoid it! I'd think it'd be obvious!" Maggie exclaimed, starting to put together some of the pieces.

"But what if you weren't sure that one choice led to the inevitable? If you believed that choice actually had a better chance of avoiding failure!" Verdan asked loudly, getting worked up.

Maggie turned thoughtful for a moment, looking down. "Well now, that's a tough one. I guess I'd say it depends on how many think the one option leads to the inevitable, and how much ya trust 'em?"

"But, but, but," Verdan spluttered for a couple seconds before stopping and sighing. "I suppose you're right."

Maggie chuckled. "Shore enuff! Lis'en to Maggie, she'll steer ya right!" She stood up from her crouch. "Well, I'll be moseying along now. Seems you got a lot to occupy you." Maggie hopped down from branch to branch, descending to the ground.

Verdan thought for a moment then began chuckling. _I'm an idiot,_ he thought. _Don't know why it took someone else to tell me the same thing Ozpin did, but it did._ He began planning his next course of action. _I need to go apologize to Ozpin for storming off. I can also clear up the issue of my classes while I'm at it. Then I need to go apologize to RWBY._ He looked up at the sky, a few stars beginning to become visible. _Welp, no time like the present._ Verdan began climbing down the tree, being careful so as to not fall and break himself. He made his way to Ozpin's tower, planning out what to say.

Verdan stood still as the elevator doors opened, revealing Ozpin concentrating intently on something on his desk. Verdan walked out and stood several feet in front of Ozpin's desk. After finishing up whatever he was working on, Ozpin looked up. "May I help you, Mr. Allen?"

Verdan took a deep breath and spoke. "I wish to apologize for my actions earlier, sir. I was out of line in storming off like I did, and I am sorry. I see your point now. I see that my previous plan was not going to bring what I wanted, and I am going to change that."

Ozpin slowly nodded at Verdan. "Apology accepted, young man. It takes character to admit when you're wrong, well done. Do you plan to apologize to team RWBY as well?"

"Yes sir, that's my next stop. I do have one question for you, though," Verdan said.

Ozpin responded, "Shoot."

"Can I be put in classes with trainees my own age?" Verdan asked. "I know I'm attached to a level-one team, but I want to be put in the same classes that I was taking in Shade. That way what I am learning will remain consistent."

"Of course you can," Ozpin said. "Since you asked, I will have that taken care of immediately."

"Thank you." Verdan turned to leave before a thought struck him while waiting for the elevator. "Is that all it takes? I just had to ask?" Ozpin gave no verbal response, just smirking slightly as he raised his coffee mug. Verdan shook his head. "I cannot believe you," he mumbled as he got on the elevator.

 **ΔInsert Scene Change HereΔ**

Verdan knocked on the door to RWBY's dorm. He hoped they were in there. Everyone he had asked had not seen them, so the logical assumption was that they were in their dorm. He raised his hand to knock again just as the door opened. He nearly hit Blake in the head, stopping just in time.

"Verdan? Can we help you?" Blake asked in a puzzled voice, the other three in the room turning away from their own work to see what was happening at the door.

"Blake," Verdan began addressing the team. "Ruby, Weiss, Yang. I need to apologize for my actions over the past few weeks. I was a real heel and was an enormous jerk. There is no good explanation for my actions, I was just trying to protect you in a messed-up way, I suppose. I'm seriously sorry, though. I'm not going to be like that anymore. For the rest of the time that I'm here, I will try be a reliable teammate. It will take time for me to learn to trust you, but I will work with you for the duration of my attachment. Just one rule: I don't want to talk about my previous team right now." Verdan put his hands in his pockets, waiting for their verdict.

Predictably, Ruby was the first to react. "Yay!" she exclaimed, a slight sonic boom accompanying her Semblance-boosted dash towards Verdan, knocking him back several steps as she hugged him.

Blake patted Verdan on his shoulder slightly awkwardly. "It's fine."

Yang hopped off her bunk and Weiss stood up from her desk, the both of them approaching Verdan. Weiss was the first to speak, hands on her hips. "I will forgive you for now. Just know, I'm watching you. No slip ups, got it?"

Verdan nodded. "Got it," he said as he tried to extricate his arms from Ruby's grip, finally able to pry her off and set her aside.

"Y'know what? We're cool. You're forgiven," Yang said before she stepped uncomfortably close to Verdan. "Just know, you better not hurt my sister. Got it?"

"Yup, got it," Verdan said, nodding frantically as he backed up quickly. The five of them then entered the dorm, and returned to their work, satisfied that their interpersonal issues had been (mostly) solved.

 **ΩChapter EndΩ**

 **AN: Sorry about this chapter coming a month after the previous one. I've discovered that time before graduation and work given to students are inversely related: as one goes down (time), the other goes up (work). That, and what I believe was what other people refer to as writer's block. But hey, here it is.**

 **I'm not happy with this chapter, not at all. I don't like the content and I don't like the length. I feel like this chapter was actively fighting against me as I tried to write it. Well, here it is, in all its sad glory. The parts that I had the most trouble with are probably obvious, but if they're not, here they are: the part with Verdan realizing he is, indeed, at fault, and the part with him apologizing to team RWBY. Eventually, I decided to just do the best I could and get this chapter out, so I could keep going with the story.**

 **Maggie's name was taken from "magenta". She was meant to have a Southern accent, but despite living in the middle of the South, I can't write a Southern accent to save my life. She's really just a character I created for this one part. However, if you guys want to see her again, maybe I'll bring her back.**

 **Well, here ya go. Now I can work on the next chapter, which hopefully will be easier to write. See ya next time. God bless!**


	9. Chapter 9: Now with less title!

Chapter 9:

 _Monday_

 _7/13_

 _0900_

Verdan leaned back in his chair, hands crossed behind his head. _Ah, finally._ _Classes that I actually need._ He was broken out of his happiness by a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see a guy staring down at him, arms crossed. Verdan sat up and placed his hands on the desk, looking up at the stranger. "May I help you?"

"Yeah, you can, buddy. You're in my seat. Move it or lose it," the guy said in a menacing voice. Verdan sat for a second, considering his options. After a moment's thought, he started to get up and apologize, but the guy started laughing and waving his hand dismissively. "Nah, don't worry about it, it's fine. I just felt like messing with you." The stranger sat down in the seat next to Verdan before offering his hand. "Name's Flynn. Flynn Waggoner. You?"

"Verdan Allen," Verdan said, slowly shaking Flynn's hand.

"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around," Flynn asked.

"Yeah, I'm relatively new here," Verdan said. "I'm temporarily transferring from Shade, Ozpin just felt like being a prankster and putting me in level-one classes."

"Level one?" Flynn asked curiously.

"Oh, sorry. I think you guys call it 'first year'," Verdan clarified. "I'm just used to using the terminology from Shade."

"Ah. Yeah, Ozpin can be a funny man sometimes. Great leader, though. Real inspiring to everyone around here," Flynn explained before looking behind Verdan at the door. "Oh, there's the rest of my team!" Flynn waved them over.

Two girls and a guy picked their way through the chairs to reach the duo. Two of them were unknown to Verdan, but one he recognized, it was Maggie. "Verdan, I'd like to introduce you to my team! Team, introduce yourselves," Flynn commanded.

Maggie gave a quick two-fingered salute. "We've already met each other, Flynn. But for the record, I'm Maggie Abel. Nice to see ya again."

"Hi. I'm," the sole male began to introduce himself before being interrupted.

"Lee Goate?" Verdan asked, reading off Lee's nametag.

"It's Lee _Goate_!" Lee exclaimed, pronouncing his last name 'go'. "Why does everyone always assume it's 'goat'? I even wear a name tag to fix this problem!"

"Uh, it just says 'Lee Goate'. It doesn't tell us how to pronounce your name," Verdan pointed out confusedly.

"Nonsense!" Lee exclaimed.

"Don't worry about him," Maggie said. "He doesn't like his name, and he's kinda paranoid and neurotic about people pronouncing it properly, so he's taken to wearin' a name tag." She added something on in a stage whisper. "He's kinda paranoid about everything, honestly."

"Hey!" Lee said loudly. "I am not paranoid, I'm just aware of things you guys aren't!"

"Sure, sure," Flynn chuckled. "Anyways, that's Lee and this is R-"

The other girl coughed a loud and obviously fake cough. "Call me R," she said. "I don't like my first name."

"Why? What's your first name?" Verdan asked, eyebrow raised.

"It's Roy," Lee interjected helpfully.

"Thank you ever so much, Lee. I'm going to kill you later," Roy said.

"Hey! If I suffer because of my name, it's only fair you suffer too!" Lee answered defensively.

As the two descended into bickering, Maggie trying to break them up, Flynn addressed Verdan once more. "Anyways, dysfunctional as we may be, this is our team. Team FLMR."

Verdan inclined his head forward, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Team Flamer? Seriously?"

Flynn chuckled ruefully, shaking his head before answering. "Yeah. . . I told you Ozpin was a bit of a strange one. I feel like he was scraping the bottom of the barrel with our name. Hey, you think we're bad, you oughta hear this one. Hey, Coco, get over here!" Flynn called out to a stylish-looking girl across the room.

The girl, Verdan assumed her name was Coco, made her way over to the duo. She lowered her shades – _Seriously, who wears shades indoors?_ Verdan thought – to examine him. After a moment, she restored her sunglasses to their previous position – _Why not just take them off?_ – and looked at Flynn. "Yeah? What do you want, Flynn?"

"I was talking to Verdan here about crappy team names. Tell him yours, Coco," Flynn responded.

Coco rolled her eyes, presumably at least. Verdan couldn't really tell because of the glasses, but he thought he saw some motion behind them. She turned to speak to Verdan. "My team's name is CFVY." She paused to allow Flynn to guffaw for a bit before getting himself under control. "While Flynn here may think it's worse than FLMR, I personally think it's an honor to be named after the headmaster's favorite thing in the world," Coco declared pridefully, raising a hand to her chest.

The teacher walked into the room, calling for everyone to take their seats and prepare for the lesson. Just before Coco walked away, Verdan whispered to both her and Flynn (Maggie was still trying to get Lee and R to quiet down), "It was nice to meet you both."

 _Monday_

 _7/13_

 _1530_

Team RWBY-V (finally, they had all accepted that nickname that Ruby bestowed) was relaxing in their dorm after a day of classes. Blake, Weiss, and Verdan were working diligently at their homework, Ruby was off doing some sort of work on Crescent Rose, and Yang was just being lazy and listening to music.

Verdan dropped his pen on the desk and leaned his chair back, sighing. He had just finished the majority of his homework, minus one or two problems to ask the teachers about. He looked around the room, taking in the personal effects the four girls had brought in, matching them with their owners' personalities. For the most part, there were no surprises. However, there was one odd thing.

"Hey, Weiss?" Verdan asked, summoning the Schnee from her thoughts for a moment. "How come your chess set is on Yang's bookshelf?"

"Although I'm pretty good at chess, that's actually hers," Weiss said.

"Really?" Verdan asked in a surprised tone. He crumpled up a piece of scrap paper and lobbed it at Yang, getting her attention. Yang pulled one out of her ear and leaned up on her elbow, looking down at Verdan from her bed.

"You play chess?" Verdan asked her inquisitively.

Yang nodded, pulling the other earbud out and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Yeah, I play chess. I'm not too bad, either. Wanna play?"

Verdan shrugged. "Sure, I'm done with my work."

Yang hopped off her bed and grabbed the box, setting it down on the desk as Verdan scooted over and pulled another chair up. Blake stopped her work and rolled over as the two set out the board and the pieces. "Ladies first, so you can have white," Verdan said.

As uninterested as she seemed, Weiss was actually listening to the chess game with one ear. Chess was one of the few things that could be categorized as "fun" that was encouraged by her father. Granted, it was turned into a chore by the rigorous, repetitive teaching employed by her tutor and it was only encouraged to teach forethought and planning, but it was still something she had found enjoyment in. She was soon able to best nearly everyone she played, although that might have been due to the fact that she was a Schnee and to beat her might not be in her opponents' best interests.

Weiss slowed her pace of completing her homework in order to better focus on the game behind her. She heard a tapping sound that she assumed was Yang moving her first piece, signaling the game's beginning. She heard several more taps, along with a few "hm"s before somebody spoke. "So, where'd you learn to play chess, Verdan?" Yang asked.

"When we were little, my sister and I had a strong tendency to be smartalecy, always trying to outsmart other people. Eventually, our mother sat us down in front of a chess board, gave us a rule book, and said, 'Here. Outsmart each other.'" Weiss heard two taps. "We started playing it and grew to love it. I haven't played it in a while, though." Verdan paused for a moment. "Few of my friends at Umbra liked it, and none of my friends at Shade liked it. What about you?"

Yang chuckled as Weiss heard a tap. "It may surprise you, but I've always been a rowdy girl. After a year or so at Signal, my father stepped in and told me to join some club that was in no way related to fighting." Weiss heard another tap. "I drew names out of a hat and chess club won. After a couple games where I got my butt handed to me, I found that I enjoyed it. Practiced at it and got a lot better."

Weiss heard one more tap before Yang said, "Neat story. Checkmate, by the way." This caught Weiss's attention. _Checkmate already? They've only been playing for four or five minutes, and I only heard about twenty moves!_ She ceased work and spun her chair around to walk to the desk on the other side of the room. Verdan and Blake were standing in disbelief, leaning over the board, closely examining it for any other options. Yang was leaning back in her chair, hands interlaced behind her head, a smug look on her face. Weiss moved to stand between Blake and Verdan's chair, a quick glance confirming her report.

"That is indeed checkmate," Weiss said. "A beautiful one , too."

Verdan sat down, shock plastered across his face. "It would appear I'm not as good as I thought I was."

"Nope!" Yang gloated, popping the 'p' as her sister was known to do.

"Well if that just isn't a blow to my ego," Verdan moaned, dragging his hands down his face.

At that moment, the door flew open and hit the wall, Ruby dashing in with an excited look on her face. "Gear up, ladies and gentleman! We've got a mission!"

"Seriously? Now? It's," Blake checked her scroll. "Three thirty. Why now?"

"I dunno," Ruby said. "I just know that Ozpin said he had a mission for us. He said it shouldn't take too long, though. He said that we're returning to a place Verdan discovered last week." She turned to look at Verdan, expecting some clarification.

Verdan looked up for a moment, thinking, before snapping his fingers. "Ah, the tower! It was an old ruin I discovered on Aldur Island," he said, facing the whole team. "It was an old watchtower from the Great War or so, but what was interesting was some sort of excavation underneath it. That's where I got knocked out and captured." He turned to address Ruby in particular. "My question is, why are we, five trainees, being sent to a hazardous location where someone has already gotten in trouble? Do we even have a teacher going with us?"

"No, no teacher," Ruby said. "Ozpin said this was more of a quick field trip than a hard mission. His reasoning was, lemme see if I can remember. Oh, yes! 'Verdan is free and knows the location of this mysterious faction's work. They are all likely gone by now.' So that's why," Ruby finished.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment. "Doesn't this seem. . . contrived to any of you?" Weiss asked.

"I'm glad you mentioned that, cause I had been thinking that myself," Verdan said. "But it doesn't look like we have much choice. Ah well, I didn't have any big plans for tonight."

"What, no hot dates?" Yang asked. Verdan just rolled his eyes. "Well, if we wanna get home by bedtime, we had better get going!"

A strange look came across Ruby's face, a combination of uncomfortable and apologetic. "About that, Yang. . . You can't, exactly, come." At Yang's shocked and befuddled look, Ruby continued quietly. "You're still not allowed to exert yourself. . ."

Yang frowned as she sat back down on Blake's bed. "Oh yeah. Crap." She sighed. "Well, don't do anything too awesome without me!"

Blake snorted. "Yeah, exploring some old ruins. I'm sorry Yang, we'll just have to be awesome without you," she said in a flat, sarcastic tone. Verdan turned to her with a hurt look.

"Hey, don't diss my interests! I don't call you out on your smut book, do I?" Verdan asked.

Yang cackled as she fell backwards on the bed. "Oh man, even the newbie called it! You can't deny it anymore, Blakey!" Blake's face turned red but she refused to otherwise acknowledge Yang.

"Everyone ready?" Ruby asked. When the other three going on the mission nodded affirmatively, she nodded back. "Very well then. To the armory!" She walked off, finger pointed forward dramatically. Blake, Weiss, and Verdan marched off after her, saying their goodbyes to Yang.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

The four teenagers hopped onto the transport Professor Goodwitch had directed them towards. Climbing aboard, they noticed they were not the only passengers as they had assumed. "Professor Oobleck," Ruby asked. "Are you going with us?"

"That's _Doctor_ Oobleck!" Oobleck emphatically stated. "And no, I am not. Professor Ozpin has enough faith in you four to allow you to take a short field trip unaccompanied. In addition, the location you will be examining is classified as clear. I have a mission of my own, one that is significantly more dangerous."

"Is your mission classified, or can you tell us what you're doing?" Verdan asked.

"I'm to be surveying Mountain Glenn, examining Grimm activity and seeing if we can perhaps reclaim and recycle some of the materials used in construction," Oobleck said.

"What about your classes?" Weiss asked. "Or will you be back tomorrow?"

"No, this mission will likely take several days. I have secured a substitute to take over my classes for the duration of my mission!" Oobleck answered.

As Oobleck finished explaining his mission, a pilot ran up and hopped onto the craft. "Everyone onboard and ready?" he asked. Receiving affirmative nods from his five passengers, the pilot ducked into the cockpit. "Strap up ladies, and gentleman! I like to fly fast!" He punched several buttons, igniting the engines and causing the transport to jump up.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

The engines cycled down, allowing the transport to hover approximately ten feet above the surface of the ground. The back hatch opened, revealing what looked to have once been a plaza surrounded by shops, before it was abandoned and reclaimed by the wilderness. Rubble was everywhere, as were cracks with grass growing in them.

The four members of RWBY-V's expedition leaned out of their seats, craning their necks to get a glimpse of this forgotten land out the back. Oobleck unlatched his harness, standing up and grabbing his thermos and a rucksack. "Good luck on your mission girls! And guy," he added remembering Verdan's presence. He jumped off the back ramp, landing on the ground and running towards a building. The back hatch closed as the engines spun up once again.

"You four are going to Aldur Island, correct?" the pilot called out, looking back at them. Ruby nodded, confirming his query. The pilot punched a series of buttons before grabbing the stick, pointing the transport towards their next direction.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

The pilot set the transport down on the field beside the ancient tower. "Last stop, everybody out before I dump you in the ocean!" When his four passengers gave him seriously freaked-out looks, he laughed a bit. "I'm kidding, I'd never drop a passenger in the ocean. Call me when you're ready to get picked up."

"Alright, Verdan. You're the only one that's been here before, so you get to show us where to go," Ruby said. "Lead the way!"

"Alright, come here," Verdan said, waving his hand for them to follow him as he walked toward the tower. "I know this thing doesn't look too impressive, but it's actually pretty old. In fact, this isn't even the entire tower we're looking at here. At least twenty or thirty feet are below ground."

"Then why is there a door here?" Weiss asked, pausing before the entrance.

Verdan froze midstep. He then finished stepping and pivoted to face Weiss, finger raised into the air and mouth open, ready to explain. After waiting like that for several moments, he dropped his hand and closed his mouth. "Y'know, I don't really know. Let's just assume someone renovated it since it was half-buried?"

"That's your best explanation?" Blake asked skeptically.

"Yes. Yes it is. You got a problem with that? My dad's the archaeologist, I just enjoy it as a hobby," Verdan complained. "You got a better explanation, lay it on me." He gave a slight glare at each of them, daring them to speak up. None of them did (although Weiss did roll her eyes), and he led them through the archway opening into the base of the tower.

"Okay, so over here is where the ladder was last time," Verdan said as he pried open the trap door. "Eeeeeexcept now there's no ladder."

"Really? We didn't notice," Weiss said. "So what now, Ruby?"

"Uuuhhhhhh. . ." Ruby trailed off, thinking hard. She glanced around the room, before a solution presented itself to her. "Blake, how long is the ribbon on Gambol Shroud?"

"I have about thirty meters, why?" Blake asked.

"Where do you keep thirty meters of ribbon on you?" Verdan asked in amazement.

Ruby and Blake both ignored him as Ruby explained her plan. "Your ribbon is rated to hold up to 225 kilograms, right?" At Blake's confirming nod, Ruby finished her explanation. "Alright, shift it into in kusarigama form, then we'll jab it into the crack between two stones in the floor. Verdan'll magnetize it in place and we'll use the ribbon to rappel down the shaft. Will you be okay with just your sheath, Blake?"

Blake nodded. "I'll make it work."

"I am simultaneously proud and terrified of you and this plan," Weiss said.

"Aw, don't be like that! It'll be awesome!" Ruby cheered as she nudged Weiss in the side forcefully.

Blake and Verdan quickly moved to execute Ruby's plan, firmly embedding Gambol Shroud into the crack between two flagstones and running the ribbon down into the hole in the floor. "Now, who goes first?" Verdan asked.

". . . Did anyone bring a flashlight?" Ruby asked, just realizing a possible flaw in her plan.

"I got you, Ruby," Verdan said. He pulled his flashlight attachment out of one of his pockets, attaching it to the front of his rifle and turning it on. "I take point?" he asked. Nobody else volunteered, so he went to the hole and crouched down, grabbing the ribbon. "I'll let you girls know when I'm down and it's clear." Verdan jumped down the whole, the ribbon hissing as it slipped through his glove.

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake crouched down by the hole, looking in as the beam of light coming from Verdan's rifle slid lower and lower, before finally stopping. It swung around several times before stopping and turning up to face them. "All clear down here! Come down when you're ready!"

The three girls slid down the ribbon, one after the other, until they all had reached the bottom of the chasm. Verdan held his rifle in one hand, pointing out with the flashlight a pile of rocks. "That was the entrance into the tunnel last time I was here. Must have collapsed it when they bailed."

Weiss walked closer to the pile, crouching down to examine it. "Verdan, don't you have earth Dust crystals?"

"Aye, I've got a few. Why?"

"Could I have one?" Weiss asked, extending a hand backwards. Verdan looked through his bag, pulling out a brown crystal and placing it in Weiss's outstretched hand. Weiss poked at a spot with Myrtenaster for a bit, before sliding the Dust crystal into place in the hole she just made. She stood up and walked backwards to the other side of the room, beckoning the others to follow her lead. "Stand clear, everyone." She waved her hand and created a glyph underneath the rock pile, the edge just barely visible. With a ringing noise, the Earth Dust activated, shattering the boulders into a pile of gravel and sand, the four teenagers shielding their faces from any flying debris with their arms. "And that is that," Weiss said proudly.

"Wow! That was amazing, Weiss!" Ruby cried out in awe.

"Thank you," Weiss said.

"Pretty good work," Verdan said as he moved forward and began scooping some of the gravel away, Ruby quickly following suit. Together, the duo made quick work of the blockade and managed to scoop enough of the debris away to uncover the tunnel. "Here, you two go first, since Ruby and I did the hard work and all," Verdan said sarcastically, gesturing for Weiss and Blake to enter the tunnel. They did as suggested, although Blake at least had the decency to look sheepish about it.

All the equipment that Verdan had seen in his previous foray had disappeared, leaving an empty, dark tunnel. "Oh! I'm an idiot!" Verdan exclaimed, looking through his satchel. He pulled out several clear Dust crystals, activating them and handing them off to the other three.

"You just now remembered you had Light Dust? Way to go," Weiss said quietly.

The four teenagers walked through the tunnel, looking around at the walls for anything interesting. After several meters and one corner, the walls of the tunnel changed. Instead of being dirt that had been excavated, it was instead large stone blocks. It twisted and turned several more times before opening up into a massive cavern. The roof wasn't much higher than the ceiling, but it appeared to be the same stone material as the tunnel, only with several spaces in them where all that remained was dirt. There appeared to have once been steps down to the floor that was many meters below them, but they looked to have crumbled into a pile of wood and stone. The only thing they could access was a walkway extending along the wall to their right.

Verdan looked down over the edge, shining his flashlight at the floor. "Well, I guess this is the end of the line. We'd have to come back with proper caving equipment to explore this ruin any further."

"Not exactly," Blake corrected. She pointed along the walkway. "I'm pretty sure there's a doorway that way." She led the other three to what she saw, which was indeed a doorway. It opened into a room with what appeared to have been at one point two windows, which now were merely portals allowing dirt into the room, mounds of dirt forming below and piling up towards each window. There were piles of rotting wood and fabric in areas of the room, intimating that this was a bedroom or another, similar, type of living space.

"Well this was a waste," Ruby said dejectedly. Blake and Weiss nodded along with her, as Verdan trained the flashlight beam on the walls and junk piles, using the more focused beam than the light Dust offered to give the room a closer look.

"Hey, Blake," Verdan called out just as the other three started to leave the room. Blake turned back to look at him. "Is it just me, or does that block look like it's a lighter color than the others, and like there's no mortar around it?"

Blake walked closer to the block, using her superior vision to see if Verdan was right. "No, it's not just you. It does look out of place, slightly. Perhaps I've been reading too much, but do you think it might be a secret compartment of sorts?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Hey, you two wanna help us pull this out?" Verdan asked Ruby and Weiss. They nodded their assent and walked over. "On the count of three: one, two three!" The four teen strained as they slowly pulled the block out and set it on the floor, careful not to drop it on their toes. Weiss held up her light Dust to illuminate the space behind where the block once sat.

"It's a book of some kind," Ruby said. "It looks really really worn out, though. Uh. . . Verdan, you know some archeology stuff, you deal with this."

Verdan acquiesced, reaching in and carefully lifting up the book and setting it on the floor. "This thing looks ancient. Look, the cover's broken off; we can see the front page." Verdan carefully pulled the front cover off. He turned on his Scroll flashlight, and the four teens leaned in to examine the page.

 _Well, you're probably wondering why I'm writing with pen and paper, rather than in a computer like I have been. Father recommended I start writing my diary by hand, he suspects the military will appropriate our computers any day now._

 _He's worried. He tries to hide it at home, but I can see through it. The Infected grow more prevalent, they attack the fort weekly now. Father's hard-pressed to keep us secure while also protecting trading caravans leaving and arriving. I keep telling him I want to be a guard, but he tells me I'm too young. I think he just wants to keep "his precious little girl" safe. Fah! I'm fifteen, I want to help!_

 _Well, I have to go now. The candle's burnt about all I'm willing to burn tonight, and as you know, our electricity is reserved for the most important tasks only. I'll write tomorrow, good night!_

Verdan looked up at the three girls. "It looks like there's a date at the top, but it's smudged and unreadable."

Ruby spoke up. "This is really cool, and kinda creepy, but we need to get back. We weren't supposed to be out here very long. Let's get moving."

Verdan nodded. "Right, right. You girls go on up, let me get a couple pics of this and I'll be up." The three girls left as Verdan opened up the camera app, snapping several photos of the journal (with and without cover) before putting it back in its secret nook, using magnetism to lift the block back into place.

When Verdan climbed back up to the "ground" floor of the tower, Ruby was on her Scroll, speaking to (he assumed) the transport pilot. Blake helped pull him out of the hole just as Ruby hung up and walked back to them. "Alright, transport'll be here in about twenty minutes. Until then, we just gotta wait here."

They all stood in silence for a moment before someone broke it. "Okay, was it just me or was that journal entry insanely freaky?" Weiss asked. The other three all spoke over each other, voicing their own agreement. "What was that about whatever she called the Infected?"

"I don't know, but think of how old that thing must be! It sounds like it's describing the fallout from some cataclysmic world-changing event. Remant's been in decent condition for thousands of years, though," Verdan pointed out.

They walked out of the tower, standing in the clearing near the edge of the forest. "That complex must have been the fort the girl mentioned in her diary," Blake pointed out.

"Imagine how big it must ha- Look out!" Weiss cried out, pointing behind the rest of the group's backs. The bunch scattered as a Beowulf jumped out of the woods, snarling.

While the three girls managed to get out of the way, drawing their weapons in the process, Verdan was not so lucky. The Beowulf was able to knock him down and back. Verdan struggled to breathe, the wind knocked out of him by the two impacts. With a savage cry of triumph, the Beowulf leaped at its downed prey as Verdan tried to recover. Thankfully, everything turned out well, as Blake jumped over him and intercepted the Beowulf, using her two blades to scissor its head off.

Blake straightened up as she and Weiss turned to survey the rest of the woods, watching to see if the Beowulf had any friends. Ruby, meanwhile, helped Verdan up as he coughed, trying to even out his breathing rhythm again. "Thanks. . . Blaze. . ." Verdan said, standing up and releasing Ruby.

Blake's bow twitched in acknowledgment. Ruby, however, looked at Verdan confusedly. "Hey Verdan, who's Blaze?"

Verdan shook his head, not looking at her. "I said 'Blake', Ruby."

Ruby shook her head. "No, I was right beside you. You clearly said, 'Thanks Blaze'."

"I did not. You misheard me. Leave it."

"Are you sure? Cause I was pretty sure-"

"Ruby Rose, you infuriating, high pitched, little girl! Leave me alone about it!" Verdan walked off, going back into the tower.

Weiss and Blake looked at Ruby, who looked very hurt about the incident. "I was just curious. . ." she said quietly.

By the time the transport arrived, Verdan had still not come out of the tower. He only came out after the ramp had lowered and was the last to board the jet. The entire trip back to Beacon, he did not speak to Ruby, Weiss, or Blake. He just slouched in his seat, arms crossed, legs extended, and head tilted back.

When the jet landed back at Beacon, Verdan made no move to get off, remaining in his seat as the other three got off. The only thing he did was retract his legs to allow them to walk past him. However, just as Ruby started walking down the ramp, he sat up and spoke up. "Ruby, hold up a minute." Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all turned back, Ruby waving the other two to go on.

Verdan stood up and walked to Ruby. "Look, I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier." He sighed and nodded. "You were right. I did say 'Blaze' and not 'Blake'. Blaze is, she's my teammate."

A look of dawning comprehension spread across Ruby's face as she realized what that meant, followed by a look of horror as she realized what she brought up. "Oh no, Verdan, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, I was just curious what you said! I'm so, so, sorry, please forgive me, I-" Verdan cut her off by putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Ruby, it's okay. I've started to make peace with what happened. Maybe I'll even feel like talking to you guys about it soon, but for right now I'd rather you not ask any questions. We good?" Ruby nodded and sniffled, water in the corners of her eyes. Verdan smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Ruby. I'm not mad at you now."

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Wednesday_

 _7/15_

 _1647_

"Are you certain?" Ozpin asked Oobleck worriedly, setting his coffee cup down and interlocking his fingers.

Oobleck nodded. "One-hundred percent certain, yes! As you know, It has been a hobby of mine to keep a record of Grimm activity in the areas around Vale, far more detailed than the council's record. Since I started my project, I have never seen these levels of Grimm activity anywhere around the kingdom, let alone Mountain Glenn. Cross-checking with the council's record, although more vague, says that this level of activity has not been seen in decades."

"This is indeed worrying. Thank you, Doctor. This has been a great help," Ozpin said before looking off to the side in thought.

"It was my pleasure to help," Oobleck said before speeding into the elevator.

Ozpin spun his chair around, standing up to look out the windows in the direction of Mountain Glenn. "To see such levels of Grimm activity when there is no corresponding spike in negativity. What could have spurred this?" He reached behind him for his coffee cup, taking several sips. "We shall have to deal with this immediately."

 **AN: Well, this is late. Really late. At this point, my goal of getting through my own events and the events of Vol. 3 before Vol. 4 debuts is pretty much shot, unless it's releasing in October or November, in which case I might get a chance.**

 **In addition to this chapter, I've also uploaded a new version of the original chapter. Again. At first, I forgot Sun went to Haven and not Shade, so it seemed odd for him to not recognize Verdan at the beginning. To fix that, I edited the first chapter and posted a new version. Then later I remembered that he did not go to Shade, so I've edited it again and it will be fixed by the time you read this.**

 **My timeline is all screwed up now, in terms of school vs. vacation. I originally planned for the school year to start in January, then to have a break in June/July, then to have the break between years be part of October, then November and December. I think I've messed that schedule up some, so let's just handwave any and all school scheduling. Deal?**

 **Hey, I'm gonna need some people to populate Beacon some, and possibly Shade as well, so if you wanna send me some OC names and basic descriptions, feel free. I won't be using them for any major roles, so you don't need to give a novel about them. Just their name, weapon, semblance, and basic personality. Also, they must follow the color rule.**

 **So, there's something fishy about Mountain Glenn, eh? I wonder what might have caused that?**

 **I always forget stuff I wanna put in these. Maybe I should start writing the notes before I write the chapters? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, and I'd love it if you left me a review. See you next time! Have a blessed day in Jesus Christ!**


	10. Chapter 10: A Challenger Approaches!

**Chapter 10: A Challenger Approaches!**

 _Friday_

 _7/17_

 _0900_

The students of Beacon slowly filtered into the amphitheater, every single one of them curious about the purpose of this assembly. When the students had awoken that morning, there was a message on each one of their scrolls: _Disregard standard class schedule. Special assembly; amphitheater; 9:00._ No other information had been given. As such, rumors were flying thicker than the snow in the middle of an Atlesian winter. A gentle roar across the room was evidence that even now, when the reason was about to be revealed, rumors were propagating wildly.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were all contributing the noise and flow of rumors in the room. They discussed some of the most likely rumors, trying to figure out what this could all be about. Before they had much time to talk, Professor Goodwitch signaled for quiet.

Ozpin walked out of the shadows in the wings of the stage, moving to stand in front of the mic. The students all quieted within seconds, eager to hear whatever he would say. "I'm sure you are all wondering why we have called this assembly today instead of classes. I've heard some interesting explanations, but none of them were even remotely close." Ozpin gestured to the screens above and behind him and a line graph appeared, one that looked mostly stable, with a small peak near the beginning and a large mountain all the way at the right side.

"The graph on the screens, generously created by Dr. Oobleck, displays the Grimm population and activity for the region of Mountain Glenn. As you can see, there have been no major shifts for quite a while. However, in recent reconnaissance, Dr. Oobleck discovered that the Grimm population has spiked by a large margin. The council does not feel comfortable with such a large amount of Grimm near our borders and has organized a full-scale Hunt. I have taken the liberty of signing up Beacon Academy as participants in this hunt, as a bit of real-world training. Rest assured, you will be assisted by regular Huntsmen. However, do not become complacent. This is still a real-world scenario, and complacency will only lead to your death. Prepare your teams, we board the transports at noon. Dismissed." An excited babble arose in the room once more as Ozpin stepped back and the students streamed out of the auditorium.

"So, what do you think of this?" Verdan asked the other three girls carefully. His relationship with them was slightly touchy. Blake, Weiss, and especially Yang had not taken kindly to him yelling at Ruby on their previous mission. They had forgiven him once he and Ruby explained his reasoning, but they had yet to forget it.

"Sounds dangerous. That means it's exciting!" Yang cheered, punching the air.

"Of course it does to you. I think this is a good chance to hone our skills, to get a taste of the real world," Weiss said calmly.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go get ready!" Ruby called out, running out the door already.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

"Listen up everyone!" Professor Port shouted from the back hatch of the transport. "Once you get off this transport, you will be in a real-world field scenario! Full Huntsmen have cleared a landing zone and rally point for us, but keep alert at all times! Once we leave the ship, I will give you your assignments. Do not stray too far from myself or another teacher, and we will shield you from any serious harm. And remember, have fun!" The professor chuckled to himself as he hit the button for the ramp and shouldered his blunderbax.

With the whir of hydraulics, the ramp lowered. In a staggered fashion, students unbuckled their restraints and stood, grabbing their weapons. They slowly walked out of the airship and onto the ground, looking around in awe and curiosity. The square they had disembarked showed its age, the buildings crumbling and collapsing and plants growing everywhere. However, there were also signs of its new function. Crates and shipping containers were stacked in several distinct areas, with several Huntsmen going through them and marking things off on a clipboard. There was also a computer terminal attached to a large dish antenna to one side of the plaza.

Professor Port was the final person to leave the dropship, after which it flew away. The students congregated around him, ready for their next instructions. "As soon as I give you your directions, you are dismissed. Maps have been synced to your scrolls. Team CRDL, you lucky dogs, will be on the front lines! Grid A4, working with a Ms. Lavi!" Team CRDL grinned and fistbumped each other before jogging out of the square. "Team FLMR, you will be on demolition duty in grid H14, clearing the streets of rubble to allow heavy weapon teams to move forward! Light explosives are in the red and gray crates." Flynn nodded in acknowledgment, the rest of his team forming up around him as they retrieved their supplies and headed off. "Team RWBY, you will be in charge of cleaning up grid R2! The front lines have moved past it, but Grimm have still been appearing in that area. Deal with them"

Yang grumbled as Ruby acknowledged the order, the five teammates following her to their assignment.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

 _Friday_

 _7/17_

 _1350_

"Grah!" With a grunt of exertion and detonation of minor explosives, Yang slammed her fist into the Ursa's muzzle, crumpling it like a paper cup and causing the Grimm to evaporate head-first. "I'm at twenty-seven!"

"How have you killed so many Grimm already?" Weiss demanded in shock, flicking her rapier to get Grimm ichor off of it. "I've only gotten nine so far!"

"Seriously? Nine? Keep up, Snowflake!" Yang cackled madly as she tossed two chains of shells into the air, catching them in the intake feeds on her bracers.

"All clear for now!" Ruby called out from the top of a skeletal structure. She hopped down, digging her scythe into the wall to slow the last part of her descent. "I didn't see any Grimm nearby, take a breather, team!"

"How did you find so many Grimm on your patrol, Yang?" Blake asked as she checked her weapon. Finding nothing requiring attention, she returned it to her back before sitting down and looking at Yang.

"I found a building with a really weird basement," Yang said before taking a drink from her water bottle. "It seems to have had a cave dug into it."

"Ooh, what's this about caves? What'd I miss?" Verdan asked, returning from chasing down a Beowulf. He clambered over rubble and debris to make his way into the circle. "Someone found a cave? I love caves!"

"We know!" the four girls said loudly in unison. "But yeah," Yang said. "There's a basement in a building near here that has a collapsed wall."

"Do you think-?" Blake asked, standing up and looking at Weiss.

"Yes, this is likely the source of the Grimm in this area," Weiss declared authoritatively. She turned to Ruby. "Ruby, we need to check this out."

"Well duh!" Ruby exclaimed, sounding rather insulted by Weiss's tone and insinuation. "I'm not an idiot!" She assumed a heroic pose, pointing in the direction Yang had left earlier and come back from. "Team RWBY – forward!"

After nearly ten minutes of travel, climbing over rubble and winding around buildings, they made it to the half-collapsed building Yang was leading them to. "It looks like it was probably some office building," Yang said, standing near the hole she used as an entrance as the others climbed through. "I guess their business _really_ collapsed."

Verdan paused to frown at Yang before he ducked through the hole. "That was weak, Yang. Do better next time." He finished climbing through as Yang scoffed.

Yang led the other four through the building, taking them to a staircase near the center of the structure, one that led down into the darkness. Verdan passed around several Light Dust crystals from his bag, and they all went downstairs carefully. When they reached the bottom, they found a massive hole in the wall, one that twisted to the side a few meters in.

"So. . . Who takes the front?" Yang asked. Everyone looked at each other before Yang put her finger to her nose, an action that was quickly imitated by Ruby and Verdan. Blake and Weiss, meanwhile, just looked at the three like they were crazy. Eventually Ruby sighed heavily and said she'd go first.

The five made their way through the twisting and turning tunnel. There were no branches to the tunnel, it was a single track to travel. The tunnel slowly sloped down the entire travel time. Blake stopped to examine the floor more closely under the glow of her light Dust. "Guys, do you see this?" she asked. She ran her fingers down several scratches and gouges in the rock. "It looks like Grimm claws."

After a minute more, there appeared a dim light in the distance around the bend. The students fed more Aura into their Dust, causing the light to flare brighter before going out. Verdan collected the crystals and returned them to his bag, and the five Huntsmen slowly walked around the corner.

The tunnel opened up into a massive grotto filled with buildings, a large underground city! The tunnel terminated on top of the roof of a building. Looking into the center of the cave, the teenagers saw that there was a set of train tracks running down an open space in the middle of the cave. There were several large light Dust crystals fastened to the sides of some of the buildings on the edge of the middle. There were voices coming from the far right end of the cavern, muddled and indistinct.

"Guys," Ruby hissed. "Let's try to get closer."

"Why? Why should we?" Weiss asked. "Let's just go back to the surface and report this." She looked at her Scroll. "Exactly as I thought, no reception."

"Don't you remember what Blake found out at the White Fang meeting?" Ruby responded. "There was something in the southeast, according to Torchwick. Mountain Glenn's to the southeast of Vale! This could be it!"

Weiss humped. "Fine. But just know, I am strongly against this."

"Look, as soon as we find out what's going on, we can go back and report to the Hunters," Yang said calmly. "But we need to get more information to tell them. Everyone fine with that?" Ruby and Blake nodded, Ruby excitedly and Blake acceptingly. Weiss made a noise of agreement while Verdan shrugged. "Glad we got that hashed out. Let's go."

They quickly found a way into the building from the roof and descended to the ground floor. When they exited, they found that the voices had disappeared. However, they were still determined to figure out what was going on in the cave, so they wound their way around buildings and rubble, slowly making their way to the end of the cave they had heard the voices coming from.

As they got closer, they could once more hear the voices. Blake pointed them out first, able to hear them even when nobody else could. The group became more careful to travel quietly: if Blake could hear the mystery people, any Faunus among the mystery people (which were likely the White Fang) could hear them.

"Blake, can you hear what they're saying?" Ruby very quietly asked her Faunus friend. If they could figure out what the other people were saying, Ruby reasoned, they might be able to figure out what they're doing without needing to get closer.

Blake nodded. "I can hear what they're saying, but it's nothing telling us anything. Just general moaning and complaining, really." She closed her eyes for a moment, to better concentrate on the voices. "It sounds like they're working on some project, know nothing, and are impatient to start it."

"That certainly doesn't sound reassuring," Weiss commented sarcastically.

Yang opened her mouth to speak before – "Let's see if we can get closer." – being interrupted by Verdan. She closed her mouth and nodded. "What he said," Yang added in, pointing at Verdan in case the subject of the preposition 'he' was unclear.

The fearless five slowly picked their way through streets and back alleys until Blake signaled them that the voices were coming from right around the corner. Blake and Ruby dashed across the street to the building on the other side, allowing the three behind the original building to have room to all look around the corner. Ruby held up a hand, all fingers extended. Slowly, she counted down to zero and at zero, they all slowly looked around the corner.

What they saw was a train made up entirely of box cars, or at least as much as they could currently see, which was several cars. There were crates scattered about, both inside the cars and out, stacked in piles five and six deep outside on the ground and carefully and methodically packed inside the car with the open door. What was interesting, however, was the group of people that they had heard – the White Fang. Some had guns and were wandering around, scanning the area. Some had crowbars and sealant guns and were checking and resealing crates. Some appeared to be packing the crates with Dust and sealing them up. There was one White Fang grunt inside the open box car with a pen and a clipboard, who appeared to be taking inventory.

The five teens heard a thumping noise, and then the White Fang suddenly became the second-most interesting they saw. A Grimm walked into their line of sight, an Ursa to be exact. But that was not what made it interesting – what made it interesting was the fact that it was not mauling everyone in its vicinity. Instead, it was carrying one of the crates to the open railroad car. The Ursa simply stepped up inside, moved to beside the White Fang grunt with the clipboard, and set the crate down before straightening up and jumping out, likely to go retrieve another crate.

"OW!" The White Fang inventory manager exclaimed. "Dammit freak, one of your pets dropped a box on my foot! Those things are freakin' heavy!"

It was at first a mystery at whom the man was yelling, but soon the target of the grunt's rage wandered into the guy and girls' view. He was wearing clothes almost like the White Fang's, yet still distinctly different. He was wearing black pants and a white shirt, with some sort of short coat or robe over his shirt and the top of his pants. The coat was black with some sort of symbol in red on the back, almost like an eye.

"My apologies," the mysterious man said slowly with a hoarse voice. Several of the others working on packaging and inspecting crates stopped their work to watch. "I do not control their fine motor functions, it did that of its own accord."

"Bullcrap," the grunt with the clipboard spat. "I've seen the monsters write things down for you before!" His face changed from pure anger to a mix of anger and disdain. "Why are you even here, anyways? We coulda done this ourselves without your ungodly help."

"Our mistress decided for it to be so, and it was," the black-clad man said. The Ursa returned with another crate and perked up, no doubt enticed by the negative emotions of the foreman. " **Savand poshat; conavinue followaumn mausan orderuk**." he said, waving his hand slightly. A faint purple and black mist emanated from his hand. The man kept walking down the length of the train, until he was out of view of the eavesdroppers. For some reason, he even made the crunching of gravel underneath his feet sound ominous. Some of the crate packagers and inspectors returned to their work and the Ursa climbed back in the car, setting down the crate and leaving once more.

"It ain't natural, getting help from the Grimm. I feel like one of these days, his control's gonna slip and we'll all end up dead." The foreman shuddered. "I tell ya, it ain't natural."

"Keep your voice down!" a woman, among those who had not yet returned to work, admonished him. "Or we'll die and he'll still be in control!"

"Gundy ain't a Faunus, he's a lowly human," the foreman replied dismissively. "Ain't no way he can hear as well as we can."

"I've heard rumors," a third worker chimed in, this one looking much younger than the previous two. "Roy told me that someone told him that once he was telling a story and Gundy was nowhere near them, and several days later Gundy mentioned a detail he told in the story and no other time."

The foreman shook his head in disgust. "Reduced to working with human crooks and freaks, what has the world come to?"

Team RWBY-V looked at each other in shock and horror. Somehow the White Fang was controlling the Grimm! More accurately, that freaky guy was controlling the Grimm, but still! This was important, they had to report it at once. Weiss jerked her head to the side, asking a silent question. _Can we go now?_ Ruby nodded once immediately, satisfied with the information they had gathered.

Ruby and Blake dashed back across the open alley to the same side as the other three, and they all turned to leave. One by one, they quietly sneaked away, alternating between looking over their shoulders to make sure they hadn't been spotted and looking ahead to make sure they didn't run into anything. However, none of them realized there was a fist-sized chunk of masonry on the ground. One by one, they stepped over it without realizing. That is, until Verdan stepped on its edge and it went flying out from under his feet. It ricocheted off a wall with a sharp *crack!* and Verdan stumbled against the building, his rifle butt clinking against it.

Verdan stood up again and made eye contact with the other four, one with disapproval in her eyes. _Sorry,_ he mouthed. Yang was stifling chuckles behind her hand and Ruby and even Blake were grinning. However, their mirthful looks were quickly replaced by ones of horror when they heard voices calling out behind them. "You guys hear that? It came from over there!" _Hurry quietly!_ Verdan mouthed at the others, pushing Blake and Weiss along as he started half-running, Yang and Ruby having already gotten started.

After two seconds of trying to leave quickly and quietly, a voice rang out. "You there! Hey kids, stop!" Verdan looked back to see several White Fang grunts leveling their rifles at the group. "Never mind, just run fast!" Verdan called out, pushing Blake and Weiss to go faster. Shots began peppering the walls around them. _C'mon, what kind of Dust do I have loaded?_ He looked at the magazine but it was a new one that he had not yet labeled. _Crud. I hope it's ice or something._ He pulled his rifle off his back and looked behind him, trying to aim for the Faunus chasing them. However, his aim was thrown off when he abruptly ran into Blake, who had stopped in front of him. "Blake? Why in the world did you. . . stop. . ." Verdan trailed off upon seeing what was in front of the now-stopped five.

The mysterious man, whose name seemed to be Gundy, was standing in front of them, a strange dark crystalline sword held off to his side and two heavily-matured Beowulves flanking him, with many more younger ones behind them. "That's. . . far enough," he slowly said, one of the Beowulves seeming to growl in agreement.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

As the White Fang soldiers escorted their new prisoners to the boss, Gundy stepped aside and ducked into a building. He entered the darkest corner, before pulling a crystal out of his pocket and concentrating on it. After a second, he opened his eyes and saw a vision in front of him, as if the corner had suddenly become a portal to an otherworldly place. He knelt down before the only other being present.

"My queen, I have dire news for you," Gundy said slowly, quietly, and reverently. "The silver-eyed ones are not extinct as we had previously assured you."

"And how do you know this?" The queen asked. Her voice was low, seemingly reassuring yet decidedly dangerous.

"One has attempted to interrupt the course of our mission."

"Attempted? He has failed?"

"She, my queen. And yes, she has failed. With my assistance, the White Fang have just captured her and four compatriots."

"And what of her powers?"

"I sense nothing emanating from her, other than a normal Aura. Her powers appear to be latent."

"Excellent," the queen slowly said. "If she was turned, she would be an excellent tool. . ." she mused. "You and your brethren have an additional directive: capture this silver-eyed woman and bring her to me."

"Yes, my queen. And she is no woman, she is a mere girl."

"Then it should be all the easier. Dismissed."

Gundy bowed his head before lifting it and standing up, the image of the alien realm disappearing and returning once more into the simple extensive shadows of the room. He slipped the crystal back into his pocket and marched out, ready to deliver new orders to Torchwick.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

"And I'm telling you, unless you pay me extra, I will not get it done two days extra! In case it escaped your notice, you are not my sole employer, I have other jobs ongoing now too! We agreed upon a price and a time of completion, those two are linked!" Roman sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "Yes, if you come up with more money we can discuss my completing it earlier. Until then, I have work to attend to." Roman ended the call before tossing the Scroll onto his desk, dragging his hat over his eyes, and leaning back in his chair. It was a nice chair, too. For an abandoned city, there were some high-value goods scattered here and there.

A knock on the door drew Roman out of his exasperation-induced rest. He sat up and reseated the hat firmly on his head, revealing Perry knocking on the door frame of his office. "Yes, what is it?" he asked irritably.

"We got something you might wanna see, boss." Perry said. "We, ah, we found some people snooping around down here."

Roman sighed heavily before taking his feet off his desk and standing up. "Perry, I appreciate all you do, truly I do," he said as he walked to the door, "but for right now, would you please just take ca-" He broke off as he saw just who Perry was referring to.

Kneeling to the side on the street adjacent to the railroad were Red and friends, each with their hands bound behind their back, their weapons tossed in a pile to the side, and a gun held to their head by a mutt, with several more guards arrayed around them. "Well, well, well," Roman said, in a tone far more pleased than previously. "If it isn't Red's Rainbow. Tell me, what are you lovely ladies and you handsome gentleman doing here at this time of night?"

"Uh, actually, boss. . . It's just after midday," one of the extra guards interjected with a raised finger.

"Did I ask you? No? Then button your beak!" Roman said frustratedly. "Now, where was I? Ah yes, why are you here?" Roman began friendly enough, but growled out his question at the end.

"We're here to stop you!" Red naively declared.

"Hah! As if!" Roman chuckled, waving his hands around. "Do you see what I've got here, kid? An army, enough Dust to supply it, and my new best friend here!" He indicated Gundy, who had seemed to appear out of the shadows as he stepped into the light.

Gundy turned to Roman. "Torchwick, I have ne-" An explosion cut him off. Roman, Gundy, and the White Fang soldiers looked up from their captives to catch another fireball fly into a building across the street. As everyone started looking around, trying to figure out where the attack was coming from, a barrage of a dozen fireballs impacted the ground around them.

"It's some Hunters!" one of the White Fang called out. "What do we do?" his buddy asked Roman.

Roman growled in annoyance, why is it that Red always had to show up and throw a monkey wrench into his plans? "Retreat! Board the train, forget what's unloaded, we're leaving now!" He started to run to the engine before stopping and turning around to point directly at the he blamed for his predicament. "There will be a reckoning between you and me, Red. Count on it!" He left to get to the engine of the train.

With their guards gone and none of the freaky mind-controlled Grimm nearby either, Blake was able to shuffle over to their pile of weapons and withdraw hers, using it to cut her teammates' bindings before Ruby used it to cut hers. As the other four were retrieving their weapons and everyone was working circulation back into their hands, Oobleck arrived.

"Students! Is everyone okay?" he asked, eyes flitting from one to the next.

"We're all okay Professor," Weiss reassured him. "But where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else? Nonsense, it's just me here," Oobleck quickly responded.

"But how? The attacks? There were so many? How did-" Weiss questioned confusedly.

"I may not be as quick as Ms. Rose here," Oobleck said proudly, "but I can certainly move quickly when the situation demands it! Now, what is the situation?"

"But how did you know? Never mind, not the time," Weiss cut herself off.

"Roman Torchwick and the White Fang are here," Ruby said. "They're about to take off in that train."

"There's someone else there, too. He seems to be able to control the Grimm!" Blake said worriedly. "They've been using them for manual labor."

"This is indeed worrying news. However! Nothing can be done if we do not catch up to that train!" Oobleck pointed at the train, which had indeed started moving while they were talking and was quickly picking up speed.

The group of six ran after the train, desperate to catch up. Ruby was the first to board the train, her speed-based Semblance serving her well. Oobleck was the second, as the situation clearly demanded he move quickly. Blake launched the ribbon-bound part of Gambol Shroud at the rear car, the blade wrapping around around a handrail and giving her a firm anchor point to pull herself onto the train with. Verdan and Weiss were the next to reach the car, Weiss dashing along with her glyphs before forming another on the rear of the car to draw herself to it. Verdan just ran and jumped, magnetizing to the train to draw himself in. And finally Yang leaped onto the roof of the train, using her gauntlets to propel herself.

As the six slipped across the train car, looking down the side they saw a White Fang grunt speaking into his scroll. "Hey, I think they're on the train!" Oobleck beat him over the head with his flamethrowing club, but alas, it was too late. The entire train had been alerted to their presence.

Meanwhile, Roman and Gundy were in the engine, along with the engineer. The door slid open and a WF member stuck his head inside. "Boss, they're on the train!"

Roman sighed and rolled his eyes before turning around. "Then take some cargo and get them off!" he yelled in exasperation. "Man, animals, every one of 'em," he mumbled as he turned to look out the window once more. Noticing the affronted look of the engineer, he quickly reassured him. "Not you, though. You're, hehe, you're great." He addressed Gundy, who was standing stoic to his right. "We'll hold them off long enough for you to do your thing." Gundy nodded, before turning around and climbing through the roof hatch to the top of the locomotive.

"Now," Oobleck said at the end of the train. "We must get to the locomotive and take control of this train!"

"Uh, professor," Weiss asked, looking down into the hatch she had just opened, belonging to the next car. Oobleck corrected her, "Doctor!" before giving her his attention. "What's that?" Weiss pointed into the train car.

"That, my dear," Oobleck said as he knelt down. "Appears to be a bomb." The four girls flinched back from the hatch as Verdan just hung his head and shook it. "I knew things were too easy," he muttered. Of course, as if his words had cursed them all, the bomb activated, the screen flashing a timer: _:_ _30\. . . :29. . . :28. . ._

The five students rushed to jump to the next car, Oobleck stopping Blake for a moment. "Blake! Detach the car!" She nodded and jumped down to the coupling. She drew her blade and prepared to sever the coupling before it became a pointless activity: the train car decoupled itself.

"It came off itself!" Blake called up to Oobleck, who was leaning over the side and watching. "This one's got a bomb too!" Ruby realized, looking in the hatch of the new last car. Oobleck straightened up and ran towards the front of the train, checking the hatches of the next two cars as well. "They all have bombs!" The car that had decoupled blew up.

Yang pointed towards the front of the train. "Guys, the freaky dude is back." The other four students looked toward the locomotive, confirming her statement. The man had indeed perched atop the locomotive and was facing towards them, his arms raised to head height and extended slightly outwards. He seemed to be rhythmically chanting, but the wind stole the words away.

"He's not the only one out!" Ruby called out. Two cars behind the locomotive, White Fang troopers were pouring out of the roof hatch, slowly making their way towards the students and teacher. The six rushed towards them, jumping off the car just before it decoupled and drifted backwards slowly. The students rushed forward, knocking the soldiers aside with their varied weapons, Yang even punching one guy straight through the roof.

The car exploded, bouncing off the rails and into the ceiling of the tunnel, which combined with the explosion tore a hole through the concrete, rebar exposed along the jagged edges. As Oobleck watched, Grimm slowly rose from the rubble, more dropping from the hole to the outside. "It's the Grimm!" he called out to RWBY-V as they finished mopping up the White Fang. "The bombs blow holes in the tunnel, allowing the Grimm access to the tunnel! He's leading them to the city!"

When the first wave of soldiers had been disposed of, they devised their plan of action, the next car decoupling and slowing before exploding. "We have to stop this train now!" Weiss said, stabbing the air for emphasis.

"Really, we should have stopped it three minutes ago before the Grimm got in here in the first place," Verdan commented, "but better late than never."

"Alright, you three go below and make your way to the engine," Ruby said, pointing out Blake, Weiss, and her sister. "Dr. Oobleck, Verdan, and I will do the same up here." Everyone nodded, accepting that plan.

Yang hugged her sister as Blake and Weiss dropped through the hole she had created. "Be safe, sis." Ruby nodded when Yang leaned back to look at her. Yang released her and patted her on the head a couple times before jumping down after Weiss and Blake.

"Let's do this!" Ruby shouted excitedly as she readied her scythe. Verdan cycled the intake gate on his railgun and nodded confidently at her.

Oobleck shouldered his fireball cannon. "Lead the way, Ms. Rose." Seconds after Oobleck spoke, they heard a noise that Verdan recognized.

"Mechs!" Verdan called out, pointing down the train to where two mechs had just jumped onto the roof from a flatbed car, scraping the ceiling and sending up sparks. With Ruby supplying a battle cry, the three dashed forward across the train to meet their foes.

Verdan peppered the control cabin of the first mech with steel bullets, causing the pilot falter on instinct. Ruby took advantage of the opportunity this presented, dashing forward to slice one leg off, sending the mech toppling over the side of the train and onto the ground of the tunnel. Dr. Oobleck sent a highly-contained stream of fire at the second one, softening the armor until it had covered the hull cameras under its own weight. Blinded, the pilot stumbled around until he fell off the train as well, the three Hunters(-in-training) simply getting out of his way.

"More mechs!" Verdan called out, pointing to the rear of the train. Turning, Oobleck and Ruby saw that he was correct, several more mechs had torn a hole in the ceiling of the last car and were climbing out and stomping up the train.

"Ms. Rose!" Oobleck said loudly. "Make your way to the front of the train! You need to incapacitate that man and attempt to seize control of the train. Mr. Allen, you go below and see if your other teammates need assistance!"

"What about you?" Ruby asked with worry.

"I shall teach these gentlemen a lesson!" Oobleck said firmly. He ran off towards the mechs, flamethermos in hand.

Ruby and Verdan looked at each other for a minute. "We can do this," Ruby said.

Verdan nodded. "Get going, we'll meet you at the locomotive." Ruby ran off as Verdan unlatched the hatch and dropped down. It was an empty car. "Forward or back?" he asked, looking in both directions. "Forward it is." He held his rifle at the ready as he punched the button to open the door between cars.

When the door opened, it revealed a train car with more crates stacked to the sides and Weiss dueling with a chainsaw-wielding man. Weiss was bouncing around the man from glyph to glyph slicing at the man with her rapier. He tried to slash at her with his chainsaw, but he was continuously too slow, only hitting thin air as he attacked where Weiss had _just_ been.

Both of the combatants glanced back slightly to see what caused the door to open. Chainsaw dude was the first to recover, grabbing out at Weiss's face as she passed by him while she was distracted. "C'mere, Schnee!" he growled out, Weiss's cry of surprise muffled by his hand.

Verdan leveled his rifle at chainsaw guy, aiming to hit the opposite of him from Weiss. His rifle fired two or three shots before making a clicking noise. Verdan's mind blanked out in horror at what was about to happen.

The shots connected with Chainsaw's chainsaw-holding arm, temporarily drawing his attention to Verdan. Recognizing the deer in headlights look on Verdan's face, he cackled happily. "Enjoy the show!" he called out as he held Weiss at arm's length and drew back his weapon to slice her in half.

However, distracted by gloating as he was, he had not noticed the determined look in Weiss's eye. A black glyph appeared behind his head, drawing a full crate into it and therefore into his head. His body wavered slightly before collapsing, the chainsaw stopping and Weiss being released. She stood up and brushed herself off before looking over at Verdan, who was still frozen with his rifle by his side. She walked to him and shook his shoulder several times. "Verdan? Verdan, snap out of it!"

Verdan blinked several times. "Huh? Sorry, I was uh. . ." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

Weiss waited several seconds but when it became apparent that he would never do so, she grabbed his arm and led him to the end of the car. "Come on, we need to go!" she said as she punched the button for the door.

The door revealed Torchwick lying on the floor, his cane out of reach and Blake's heel in his sternum. "We're on the same side, and you know it!" he said calmly and confidently. In response, Blake just jumped up slightly and kicked his head, knocking him out. She looked up at the other two. "You two alright?" They nodded and Blake followed up with, "Where's Yang?"

"I'm here," they heard behind them. Turning around, they saw Yang had just entered Weiss's battleground. "Let's get to the engine, now!"

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Ruby slowly and deliberately went up the train, fighting the wind to maintain her footing. As she got closer to the mysterious man, she was able to make out snippets of what he was chanting. " **. . .** **breavhren** **. . .** **comppak** **. . .** **heun** **. . .** **pros** **. . .silv** **a** **r** " By the time she was standing right in front of him, scythe held out behind her as she crouched to attack, the mysterious man had finished and was staring at her with anticipation, his sword dimly glowing on his belt. Thin trails of black smoke were drifting off him.

"Come to see our completion, little one?" The man asked with glee. "Come to see your demise close at hand?" He cackled as he withdrew his sword, holding it across his chest. He beckoned to her. "Come! Challenge your fate and find its futility!"

Ruby did as he asked, dashing at him with a grimace as she swung her scythe at him. However, no matter where she attacked or how quickly, he was always able to block her attacks or deflect them off his sword, a crystalline ringing emanating from it each time he did so. For nearly a minute their dance went on, the man matching Ruby's speed almost inhumanly as he seemed to toy with her. In the back of her mind, Ruby noticed the black smoke becoming thicker and thicker and seeming to be drawn to his sword. Finally, when Ruby had wound up with her back to the front of the train, he took his eyes off hers and looked over her shoulder.

"It appears our time together is up. Such a pity," the man said grandiosely. "I quite enjoyed it. No matter, my purpose is done! The Sons of Destiny shall be victorious!" He held his sword skyward, the smoke thickening more and more. " **Conukume mausan ukoul avo comppak wiavh mausan pupouke!** " Ruby noticed that as the smoke grew darker, he seemed to be slowly disappearing. A few second's watching confirmed her theory, he was dissolving into dust before her eyes! Not all of the smoke was being absorbed by his sword, though. Thin, barely-visible wisps trailed away into the pack of Grimm, Ruby only being able to see it with her sharp sniper's eyes. The man disappeared more and more, nearly entirely a silhouette of black smoke now, with eyes that had begun emitting red light. The sword glowed brighter and brighter purple as it absorbed more and more. Finally, Ruby made up her mind. She did not know what was happening, but she knew it was not good! Before the man could react, she tilted her scythe and fired one shot, directly at the flat of the sword. Even with his freaky speed, he was caught off guard. The bullet struck the sword, shattering it with the sound of broken glass.

The shards of the sword flew apart, losing their glow the farther they got from the source. The smokey figure dissipated almost instantly, torn apart by the wind, the light from his eyes seeming to remain even after all the smoke was gone. Behind the train, the pack of Grimm seemed to lose cohesiveness – instead of chasing after the train, some of them turned and fell upon each other, tearing and ripping at other Grimm, causing the tide to slow down and fall apart. There were still Grimm following the train, just nowhere near as many as before.

Ruby turned around just as Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Verdan climbed out of the hatch on the locomotive. "Any luck?" she asked. Yang shook her head.

"I took a look at the controls. I think we closed the throttle and applied the brakes, but I don't kn-" The train jerked as Yang spoke and threw them to the roof, starting to slow. "Well, never mind then."

"It's not enough, look!" Blake raised her finger to point at the end of the tunnel that was quickly approaching, at this point only about thirty seconds away. Ruby nodded at Weiss, who instantly understood her meaning. Ruby herded everyone to huddle around Weiss, who stabbed the roof with her rapier and made a cocoon of ice sprout around them.

The cocoon did its job, as the train shattered through the barricade into a plaza of Vale, the five children were protected from most damage. The ice did eventually shatter, allowing them to be flung into the center of the square, but they were unharmed. Shortly after they came through, a pack of Grimm followed them. It was heavily reduced from what had been chasing the train, but it was still a serious threat. Alarms started blaring as civilians panicked and ran away, a handful of Grimm giving chase.

RWBY-V quickly recovered, destroying the chasing Grimm before they could get out of the square and beginning to battle the others. It was a difficult fight, but the addition of many, many reinforcements from Beacon and the Atlasian army resulted in a victory. And the cherry on top was that two of the transfer students were able to capture Torchwick, delivering him to an Atlesian dropship and the custody of General Ironwood himself.

 **Δ Insert Scene Change Here Δ**

Several hours later, RWBY-V were sitting on one of Beacon's landing pads, looking out across the city. "Well, I think we did great work today!" Ruby said happily.

"We still don't know exactly what they were doing, or why," Blake said unhappily.

"A lot of bad men are behind bars now, we should feel proud of our work," Weiss answered reassuringly.

"Woo-hoo, go team, great work guy," Yang said tiredly as she fell back. "What about you, Verdan, what do you think? You've been quiet."

Verdan turned his head from the city to the four girls. "I. . ." he began. "I think I'm going home."

The four girls started slightly, Verdan's declaration surprising them. "You're going home?" Weiss asked. Verdan nodded slowly.

"But why?" Ruby cried out in shock.

"I've realized something today," Verdan said. "I nearly let another ally get killed, right in front of me this time."

"Are you talking about the train?" Weiss asked. "Look, I'm over it. Your weapon simply had less ammo then you thought, it could happen to anyone. Plus, I'm perfectly fine now. All that was was a lesson to learn from."

"Exactly. I've learned that I don't think I'm meant to be a Hunter." Verdan stood up, brushing off his pants. "Girls. . . It's actually been kinda nice knowing you." He stepped away some before turning to face them. "Good luck with your training, I think you'll all do really well." He walked towards the dorms.

The four girls looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "I'm not sure we can do anything," Weiss carefully said, answering the unspoken question. "I don't think we can change his mind about this."

Later that day, when the team finally returned to their dorm after processing the events of the past two days, it had been emptied of Verdan's gear. The dorm now looked exactly like it had when they first moved in, except for two details. One was a note resting on the bookshelf.

 _Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang:_

 _Like I told you, I'm going back home. It's clear that I am not cut out to be a Hunter, not if I can't even stop letting my teammates die. However, I have surprisingly enjoyed our time together. You four grew on me. If you're ever in Vacuo, give me a call and we can meet up, maybe even show you my home. Don't bother trying to call me and convince me to come back, though. There is nothing that will convince me to come back. Ruby, I'm giving you my rifle. Take good care of it, my sister made it for me. Much as I treasure it because of that, you are clearly far better suited to wield it than I am._

 _Good luck, my friends._

 _Verdan Allen_

 **AN: Well, I did indeed start this chapter with the author's note! And immediately had nothing to say. Ah well.**

 **I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out. At this point, I'm not even sure I have a good reason other than lack of motivation. I feel like nobody's really reading and enjoying this, even though the fact that there are a handful of reviews, follows, and favorites says otherwise. But hey, it's pretty long so you got that going for you, which is good.**

 **I'm going to go ahead and say now, some parts of this story might have the same or a similar thing as canon happen, but with many of these, I had actually devised before they were revealed in canon. Of course, I might change my mind and some of these may never happen, but some will. I just wanted to announce this now, before I get to any of these (beside the idea of a master of the Grimm.)**

 **I also started planning another story, one that I feel might be a little easier to write. It's supposed to be pretty short, and it will have no OCs. Okay, one or two. But they won't be major OCs like in this story, the major players should all be canon. This should, in theory, make writing it a little bit easier as I don't have to craft entirely new personalities, simply write the ones we are shown in canon. I will still have to craft a world and plot, though. This one's gonna be a major AU. So with any luck, I'll be posting this new story soon and updating it often, updating _Ancient Wonders_ not quite so often but still updating throughout the new story's life.**

 **Gundy and Roy are both color-related. Gundy's from burgundy and Roy is from royal blue.**

 **I skipped over the Breach in one paragraph because it was exactly the same as canon, just without Zwei but with Verdan. Nothing major happened. Now, the train? Well, that just kicked off my primary original plot. Yay! Only took ten chapters to do so!**

 **I'd appreciate your reviews and feedback!**

 **All credit belongs to the Lord and have a blessed day!**


	11. Chapter 11: The Plot Thickens

**Introductory AN:**

 **While I usually don't do this, this is important. In this chapter there is a scene that was heavily inspired by music, and as such I believe that that scene would feel better with the music attached. I'll give the individual Youtube code below and have an asterisk at the beginning of the paragraph to start playing it and two asterisks after the paragraph to end it.**

 **watch?v=ubJXoTpF96s**

Chapter 11

 _Monday_

 _8/10_

 _11:52_

"Due to further technical difficulties, the Vytal Festival Tournament will have to be postponed once more. General Ironwood of Atlas Academy assures me that his engineers are working as hard as possible to repair Amity Coliseum and hope to have repairs finished soon. We will keep you updated as we receive new information and will inform you of the new date for the festival as soon as possible." With that, the intercoms in the dining hall cut off and Ozpin's voice was silenced.

"Ugh," Ruby groaned as she let her head fall onto the table. "Postponing it again? Why?"

"They just said why, Ruby," Yang forced through a mouthful of food. "Something's wrong with the Coliseum."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Weiss asked Yang skeptically. "Atlas's engineers are the greatest in the world. They should have fixed the Coliseum by now."

"Weiss, there's no need for the conspiracy schemes," Yang responded.

"She's right, though." Blake looked up from her book and at the two of them. "Though I've had. . . disdain for Atlas, I cannot deny that their technology is the best in the world. It is noticeably strange that they've been unable to repair the Coliseum for nearly a month now, especially since there is a crew constantly checking it and keeping it in good condition."

"Are you guys looking for some sort of secret now?" Yang asked incredulously. "Don't worry about it, they'll fix it when the fix it."

"Ohmygoshwehaveclasswegottago!" Ruby yelled as she hurriedly put her empty dishes on the tray to return to the kitchen. The other three girls followed her example and rushed to class.

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _12:05_

As Professor Goodwitch walked into the combat arena the entire room quieted. When she reached the central platform, she turned around to address the students. "Now, I'm sure you've all heard the announcement about the Coliseum-"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Yang called out loudly.

"Ms. Xiao-Long! Do not interrupt when I am speaking." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and looked at her tablet. "I can, however, tell you that the fault is in the drive system. It apparently requires an extensive amount of work, and that is all we know. As I was saying, the postponement of the festival brings up several issues, one of which is the housing and education of students. Beacon is able to handle the large load of outside students the festival brings, but not long-term. In order to rectify this and also encourage inter-school and kingdom cooperation in a similar manner as the Vytal Festival while it is postponed, Professor Ozpin and the other headmasters have decided to temporarily implement a large-scale student exchange program. Such an option has existed in the past, but now it is required for many students. Many Beacon students will be attending elsewhere while the students from the other schools will remain here. You will receive more information on your scrolls, including the teams to travel, in the near future. Now, let us begin class."

As students began being selected for combat, RWBY and JNPR began discussing this new development. "Do you think we'll get to go?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Get to go? I feel like it's more 'have to go'," Jaune said resignedly.

"As strange as it may seem, I agree with Jaune," Blake said. "I'm not sure I want to leave Vale right now, especially with the White Fang and such."

"There's nothing to worry about," Weiss said. "We've taken care of their whole plan. The Dust was clearly for the bomb cars."

"And how can you be sure about that?" Blake testily demanded of Weiss. "How can you be sure that was their only plan?"

"Because I know Dust. It has been part of my lessons for as long as I can remember. I've even learned to be able to sense Dust with my aura! I know how to calculate the yield of a Dust explosion. The explosions from the bombed train cars used up most of the Dust, and what little is likely left isn't enough for anything more than a little ammo or powering a small machine. We've won, Blake," Weiss said softly. "You don't need to worry about them now."

"Maybe you're right," Blake said in a tired voice, slumping slightly.

"I'm sure she is," Pyrrha encouraged her. "We've done good work, you should relax some, Blake."

Blake nodded. "Alright. I will. I'll wait and see whether we go or not and try to enjoy it either way."

"Alright!" Yang cheered, clapping Blake on the back. "Now let's just hope we get a free vacation!"

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _13:38_

"Oz, I'm sorry, but this isn't your decision. The council placed me in charge of security and I intend to live up to their trust," Ironwood said reluctantly.

"Consider the repercussions of what you are doing though, James," Ozpin said disapprovingly before sipping his coffee. He leaned forward in his chair to better address the image of General Ironwood hovering above his desk. "The Vytal Festival has always been on the same days every time. Delaying the festival will raise questions, cause unease."

"Which is why I'm disguising it as technical problems with the Coliseum. The only people who know otherwise are the technicians I have 'working' on it, you, Glynda, Leo, and myself. Nobody will find out," Ironwood reassured Ozpin.

Ozpin was not reassured. "You do not know that, nothing this big can be kept secret for long. Someone, some nosy journalist or a curious citizen, will find out and will tell everyone. And when they do, people will start questioning why Atlas is faking damage to the Coliseum. Tensions will rise, unease will grow, and that will only feed the Grimm."

"Curse it Oz, there was a Grimmleal in Vale! Right underneath our noses! If those four girls hadn't stopped him the Breach Incident would have been hundreds of times worse. Until I am sure there are no more here, the Festival will be delayed for 'technical reasons'. I'm sorry, Oz." Ironwood's image disappeared and the holographic screen followed him a moment later. Ozpin sat back in his chair and rubbed his forehead in frustration.

Ozpin turned to face Glynda, who had been standing on the other side of his desk. "I understand he's trying to do what he thinks is best," Ozpin told her. "But it makes his actions no less frustrating."

"That's just the kind of person James is. It's why you pushed for him to be headmaster and recruited him," Glynda reminded Ozpin. "If it's any consolation, I think this temporary exchange program will work during the postponement of the Festival for ensuring peaceful inter-kingdom relations. I've heard several students talking about it, they all seem very excited."

"One can only hope," Ozpin said, turning his chair around to drink in both his coffee and the view.

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _18:10_

"Girls, we've found it," Weiss declared proudly, slamming the door to RWBY's dorm open. She strutted in, Blake following her more calmly.

"Congratulations!" Yang responded dryly. "Found what?"

"The Grimm mystery man," Blake responded, closing the door behind her as Weiss laid several sheets of paper across her desk and tapped her scroll to the room's projector. The projector booted up in seconds, displaying the first slide of a presentation titled "The Mystery Grimm Sorcerer."

"Ugh," Ruby groaned as she turned her desk chair around to watch. "A slide show?" Yang nodded in agreement as she hopped down from her bed.

"What's wrong? I assumed you two would enjoy this, it's got plenty of pictures!" Weiss said, indignant at their ungratefulness.

"I didn't like slide shows in elementary school," Ruby said. "They came with pictures but it wasn't enough to cover up the boring stuff, which was everything else."

"This will be much more interesting, I'm sure, Ruby." Blake stood on the other side of the screen from Weiss, who had obtained a pointer stick from somewhere.

"So," Weiss began. "The reason it took us so long to find anything useful is because we started looking in the wrong spot. We had assumed anything about people being able to control the Grimm would be easily found in the history section. We were wrong." Weiss left off and turned to Blake, allowing her to speak.

"Where we should have been looking from the beginning," Blake continued, "was in the legends section of the library." Weiss advanced the slide to show an image of a heavily stylized drawing in a book, showing what appeared to be several Beowolves obeying the commands of a human with hand oustretched. "Many legends tell of a tribe of people that had 'magical Grimm powers' a thousand years ago."

Weiss picked the tale back up from Blake at this point, shifting the presentation to a new slide of drawings and paintings every so often. "For the most part, this tribe seems to have been nomadic, using their Grimm thralls to attack villages and the predecessors to today's kingdoms for supplies. Other than that, most knowledge of this tribe seems to have been lost. The only other things the legends agreed upon was that they seemed to almost worship the Grimm and the name most people referred to the tribe with: the Grimmleal."

"I'd dismiss it all as a load of bull," Yang said after a moment. "If it weren't for the fact that we saw a guy control Grimm ourselves."

"What happened to them?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Nothing said for sure," Weiss slowly answered, "But one legend mentioned a great crusade undertaken by the major villages. The suggested timing of this crusade roughly aligns with the time most villages combined into the four kingdoms. Perhaps the unity required by such an effort was the reason for the founding of the kingdoms?" she mused to herself.

"At any rate," Blake finished, "the Grimmleal have been dead and gone for nearly a millennium. Long enough for the world at large to dismiss history as legend. And yet, we saw one. Fought one. He was working with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. I don't think this is over yet after all."

"Well if it's not, we'll address it when we come to it," Weiss said definitively.

A chirp sounded from their scrolls simultaneously, alerting them that they had a message. "We've been selected to go to another school!" Ruby cried happily. "Yay!"

"It says here we get to input our preference as to where to go," Weiss pointed out. The team discussed their options, weighing the pros and cons of each of the other three academies. Eventually they decided and responded to the message. Several hours later, they received another message informing them of the acceptance of their preference as well as giving them the travel details.

After they had gone to bed and Ruby and Weiss were both asleep, Yang leaned over the side of her bed to look at Blake. "Hey Blake, you awake?" she whispered.

Blake mumbled back, "No. What's up?"

"Listen," Yang began quietly. "You said earlier that you didn't think this whole thing was over yet. I know this is important to you; because of that, it's important to us too. However, you need to remember not to drive yourself insane. Back when you were going after the White Fang last month, before the train incident, you weren't sleeping, you were barely eating, and we were all worried about you. Just like last time, I'm not asking you to stop, just pace yourself. And rely on us for support, too. Please."

Blake stuck her head out the side of her bunk bed to look at Yang, sounding much more awake now. "I understand your concern, Yang. There's always a part of me that will worry when the White Fang is involved, it's been too big a part of my life to not worry about them, especially with what they've become now. I remember my promise to you not to get dragged in too deep. I want to stay grounded, especially now knowing my tendency to forgo all else. So I've got a promise to ask of you, as well." Blake relaxed, letting her head fall back to look upside down at Ruby and Weiss across the room. "Ruby and Weiss, too." She looked back up at Yang. "If I start to go down the rabbit hole, please pull me back. By force if necessary, but please – all three of you need to pull me back."

"Of course, Blake," Yang said quietly. "You only have to ask. You're my partner and our teammate. And you can rely on us to help, too. We're a team and we're in this together." They smiled at each other before Yang snickered quietly.

"What is it, Yang?" Blake asked curiously.

"A cat Faunus, going down the rabbit hole!" Yang quietly crowed, fighting to restrain her growing chuckles.

Blake gave her a flat look before moving her head back into her bed, not deigning to dignify Yang's joke with a response. This only served to fuel Yang's amusement as her chuckles grew slightly louder before finally calming down as she returned to sleep.

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _Tuesday_

 _8/11_

 _09:22_

While team RWBY was waiting on the airpad for their transport, team FLMR approached. While they were not good friends, they had become acquainted with each other in the past month, FLMR almost taking on the role of mentors to their juniors. "Mornin' ya'll," Maggie called out.

"Morning Maggie!" Ruby answered back happily. "What are you guys doing here? Are you going to another school too?"

Flynn shook his head. "Nah, we're not. Just going out on a field trip. I assume you're one of those teams? Where ya going?"

"We're going to Shade Academy in Vacuo," Weiss interjected.

"Isn't that where Allen is from?" Lee asked from behind Maggie.

"Yup, that's part of why we're going to Shade. He didn't seem to be doing well when he left nor when we've called him since then," said Yang. "That and it's the kingdom we have the least experience with."

"So you'll be flying over the Great Desert, eh? I've heard it's got some spectacular views," Flynn said thoughtfully. "Can you get me some pictures? I've always wanted to see it for myself but haven't been able to yet."

"Of course we can," Weiss responded. "It would be our pleasure."

"Thanks." Flynn's scroll pinged and he opened it up to check. "Well, it's time for us to go. Enjoy your trip, girls. FLMR, onward!" He pointed toward a transport that had just landed.

Within several minutes, team RWBY's transport to Shade Academy arrived – a cargo airship traveling to Vacuo. The airship was long, with four wings at the front and back, an engine slung underneath each wing. Mounted on the end of each wing was a small-caliber defense turret. Both sides contained a large door opening into the massive cargo bay in the center of the ship, divided into two sections by a wall down the middle. The four girls stowed their gear in the right compartment and boarded the airship, ready to be on their way to the kingdom of Vacuo.

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _12:52_

They were three and a half hours into their five and a half hour trip and the boredom was slowly getting to them. Blake had already finished the book she kept with her; she had greatly overestimated the time it would take to finish. Yang and Ruby had been playing a game on their scrolls but when the batteries began to run low they had to put them away. Weiss. . . had actually been handling the boredom rather well, simply sitting in her chair with her eyes closed, either deep in thought or napping. Yang suggested it was the latter and decided to put this theory to the test by gently poking Weiss in the ribs. When that brought no response, she poked again harder. Finally Weiss reacted.

"What are you doing?" Weiss demanded of Yang, gripping her wrist before she could poke Weiss again.

With a grin on her face, Yang answered helpfully, "Poking you." 

"Yes, I can see that!" Weiss said in an irritated voice. "Do you mind? I was trying to -" What she was trying to do would remain a mystery, because she was interrupted by a screeching siren from the cockpit, a dull thump noise, and the airship swaying.

 ***** This was worrying on its own, but what made it worse was the shout of surprise and distress from the cockpit. It was quickly followed by, "You four girls have your weapons handy?"

"Yes, why?" Blake asked worriedly, hand already moving towards Gambol Shroud on the seat beside her.

"Cause we're in a bit of a Grimm situation! Look!" The pilot pressed a button in the cockpit and the side door of the room opened up, revealing sand dunes as far as the eye could see and a horde of black flying things in various sizes, ranging from a large toddler to a full-grown man. After a second a repetitive firing noise indicated the auto-defense turrets had come online.

"What are those?" Yang cried out in shock and disgust. Ruby slung Verdan's rifle across her back and looked through her sniper rifle's scope at a Grimm. She began describing the Grimm in the hopes that someone else would know what type of Grimm it was.

"It's got an ovalish body, with a long whip tail and a long neck as big around as the head! It's got compound eyes and two fin things sticking up off its head behind its eyes. It's got four narrow wings, two per side, that are clear. It's got two arm/hand combos that are one oval thing." Ruby looked back at the other three. "Anyone know what they are?"

Weiss and Blake, the two most likely to know looked at each other and shrugged. Neither of them had ever heard of or seen anything like these Grimm. "It doesn't matter," Ruby said. "We still have to fight them off." Weiss grabbed her rapier as Yang deployed her gauntlets. "We'll take it by partners. Blake and Yang, you guys take that side." The craft shook again, causing the four girls to stumble momentarily. "Weiss and I will guard this side. Hurry!" Blake and Yang rushed through the bulkhead to the cargo bay on the other side of the aircraft.

The ship shook once again, but Ruby and Weiss were prepared and holding on to the wall, allowing them to remain upright. Ruby completely unfolded Crescent Rose into the scythe form, using the blade as a monopod for her sniper rifle, firing into the rapidly growing mass of Grimm. Weiss was firing rays of Dust energy, not taking the time to select a particular variety in favor of sheer speed and quantity of firepower.

The girls noticed the strange way in which the Grimm were flying. While most of them were flying in a sphere around the ship, every so often a few would break off and fly at the cargo ship, raking the surface with their claws as they passed. "Okay, we've got a serious issue!" the pilot called out of the cockpit to the team. "They're starting to damage the structural integrity of the plane and the control surfaces! I can't fly as fast without ripping us apart and it's already getting hard to control anyways. Can't you girls drive them off quickly?"

"We're trying!" Yang shouted back, firing her gauntlets at the swarm. "For every one we kill, two take its place!" The swarm was indeed growing larger and was pulling off some acrobatic and aerodynamic feats. They were flying in every direction around the airship yet were managing to match its velocity at the same time. The aircraft began to shudder and shake more and more as the mysterious Grimm increased the pace at which they rammed the aircraft.

"They just won't die!" Yang grunted angrily as she paused to reload. "What are we going to do, shoot all the way to Shade?"

Blake threw her blade out at a Grimm before whipping it back with the ribbon, severing the Grimm's wing and causing it to crash to the ground, sand spraying up from the impact. "It's not like we have any other options right now," she answered, throwing the blade out again.

"How far are we from Vacuo, anyways?" Ruby yelled through the door connecting the two cargo bays.

"I'm not sure!" Blake yelled back. "Pilot! How far away are we?"

"Still too far for a CCT distress call!" the pilot answered, the tension of flying with the Grimm swarming the aircraft evident in his voice. "I'm putting out an SOS but we're still several miles out of range! It'll take us a few more minutes to get into range and at least two hours to actually reach Vacuo!"

"We're in serious danger of running out of ammunition!" Weiss cried out. "Some of my Dust types are already running out, what are we going to do once we're all out?" At this point, the swarm had grown so dense that it was dimming the light and obscuring the view of the desert outside. The noise of the guns had dwindled down and stopped as the four guns were rammed into and torn apart one by one. The aircraft was shuddering every few seconds as Grimm rammed it and slid off.

"We're not about to tear apart yet but we will be soon if something doesn't change here!" The pilot updated the four girls.

"We'll just have to think of something!" Ruby said, answering both Weiss and the pilot. "Is there any ammunition for anything in any of these supplies?" she yelled in the direction of the cockpit.

"Nada!" the pilot answered tersely. "These are just basic imports: movies, foodstuffs, books, etc. I'm not cleared to carry ammo!"

"I can make do without ammo," Blake yelled to Ruby. "I can throw my sword and pull it back with the ribbon, it's what I've been doing."

"Keep doing that then! We'll just have to figure something out." Ruby fired her weapon twice more, but after that it began clicking. "Oh no. This is bad!" As she folded Crescent Rose and pulled out Verdan's rifle she heard the sound of tearing metal. With the last of the four defense guns silenced, Ruby running out of ammo, and Weiss slowing down her rate of fire to preserve her last ounces of Dust, the Grimm were able to get in close and begin clawing at the sides of the cargo door opening.

"Ruby! What's happening?" Yang yelled. The door between the two sections did not line up with the cargo doors, preventing her from seeing the cause noises. "The Grimm!" Yang heard. "They're tearing the door frame – aiee!" Milliseconds after Ruby screamed, a spiraling Grimm tore through the dividing bulkhead and flew out the open door on the other side, knocking both Yang and Blake. Yang was disoriented from hitting the floor but was coherent enough to see a bundle of red in the mass of black. "Ruby!" Yang cried, reaching for her sister futilely.**

Blake helped Yang up and they along with Weiss watched as the creature stabilized its flight, shifting its grip to hold her by her arms, preventing her from grabbing Crescent Rose or her Gauss gun, which was dangling by its strap from her arm. As it flew away the swarm dispersed almost instantly, the Grimm leaving the girls to themselves. Yang made to jump out of the ship before Blake and Weiss held her back. "What are you doing?" Weiss shouted incredulously.

"Let me go!" Yang writhed and fought to escape their grip and did manage to escape Blake momentarily, but Weiss's traction glyph held her tight. "Let me go! I have to help her!"

"You can't help her!" Weiss yelled back. "Not like that! You'd go running after a _flying_ Grimm and do what, shoot at it? You'd hit Ruby!" Yang stiffened then sagged in their grip. "That's not the way to do it," Weiss said softly. "This is the way to do it." She faced the cockpit door. "Pilot! Chase that Grimm!"

"No can do, lady!" The pilot stuck his head out of the cockpit to address Weiss. "The Grimm pulled enough of us apart that any major turns may just make us fall apart. In addition, there's enough to the wings and body that it's a struggle to maintain lift. I'm trying to go fast enough to keep us up but slow enough to stay together. I've barely got any control surfaces so we can't really turn, just keep going in a straight line until we reach Vacuo. We can't set down either. The next time we land is the last."

With every word the pilot said, Yang went limper and limper, her thoughts on her sister and her uncertain fate. "Wait, there is something we can do," Blake said suddenly. Yang looked up at her with a desperate hope in her eyes. "We can call Shade, they're sure to have ways of tracking things in the desert." The look of despair on Yang's face was slowly replaced by one of determination.

"Well, we are in range of the CCTS, finally," the pilot said. " _After_ the Grimm leave us, naturally, but we're in range."

Weiss dialed the number for Shade Academy on her scroll, only to get a loss of signal tone. She whirled about and stormed to the cockpit. "You said we were in range!" she angrily called out, sticking her head in the cockpit.

"Oh, whoops. _I'm_ in range, my communication system is stronger than the scrolls. Here, give me your scroll, I can set it up so you can piggyback on the ship's signal." Weiss handed over her scroll. She impatiently waited as the pilot flipped several switches and changed several settings on her scroll and the aircraft before handing it back. "Here ya go, just make it quick."

Weiss dialed the number for Shade Academy again. After a minute she gritted her teeth and her grasp on her scroll became a death grip. "Would you believe it? The phone system is down! Something about an upgrade and temporarily out of service. Of all the times!"

"Now what?" Blake asked quietly, slumping into a seat.

Yang snapped her fingers suddenly. "I betcha Verdan can help! He lives here, he probably knows things we can do!"

Weiss dialed Verdan on her scroll, switching it to video mode so they could all see him and he them. The scroll rang several times before Verdan answered. "Oh hey, Weiss. You're not one to call out of the blue, what's up?" On the screen of Weiss's scroll it looked like Verdan was driving some sort of vehicle with only a skeletal framework for a roof, blue sky and buildings visible behind and around him.

"We're flying to Vacuo for a new program that is taking the place of the Vytal Festival until the coliseum is repaired and we were attacked by Grimm and they took Ruby and flew off into the desert somewhere and our ship is damaged so we can't follow them and the school's phone system is busy so we can't call them for help so can you help us?" Yang exhaled. Verdan glanced towards his scroll so he was facing the screen.

"Yang, is that you? What? I couldn't understand most of what you said, can you repeat it?" Verdan asked extremely confused.

"Long story short, we are flying to Vacuo and were attacked by Grimm, one of which kidnapped Ruby. We can't contact anyone from the school to help, can you track her?" Blake quickly summarized.

"A Grimm kidnapped Ruby?" Yang nodded emphatically. "And you want me to track it?" Verdan asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, but you're our only hope," Weiss somberly informed him.

Verdan sighed, dragging his hand down his face. "No promises, but I can try. I'll meet you girls at the south air dock, be ready to go as soon as you land." Verdan reached closer to the camera before the feed cut out, indicating he had hung up on his end.

Weiss poked her head into the cockpit. "Sir, can you get us to the south air dock in Vacuo?"

"Get you to Vacuo? Yeah, I can do that," the pilot told them. "It's about the only thing this ship can do anymore, but I can get us to Vacuo." Weiss sat down on a crate and put her face in her hands as Yang started pacing along the length of the cargo bay, fiddling with her bracers.

"Yang, are you alright?" Blake slowly asked her.

"No, I'm not alright," Yang said, seeming oddly calm. "I just saw my sister get kidnapped by a Grimm – something that has never been known to have happened ever – and we can't go after her right now. Instead, we need to go the rest of the way to the kingdom in the hopes that someone our age who has about as much training as we do can help!" Yang was yelling by the end of her tirade. After that, however, she sat back down and ran her hands through her hair.

"I'm sorry," Yang apologized to the others. "I just. . . I can't lose Ruby. I don't know what to do and I don't like feeling helpless."

"It's okay, Yang," Blake said, sliding over to hug Yang. "None of us know quite what to do. But don't worry, we'll get Ruby back."

"Of course we will," Weiss said, putting her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Knowing Ruby, she'd be fighting her way out and we'll eventually meet her halfway."

Yang leaned back against the bulkhead. "Thanks guys."

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _15:07_

The cargo ship slowly lowered itself towards the pad, settling down with a ponderous 'thunk'. The side doors opened and Yang, Blake, and Weiss slowly climbed out. A short distance away, near the entrance gate, stood Verdan. He was leaning against some sort of dune buggy-type vehicle with a small cargo box on the back and some extra seats.

The three girls ran to him, eager to get Ruby back as soon as possible. Yang was the first to reach him. "Thank you for helping us, Verdan. I know you don't want to be involved in Huntsman stuff anymore." Yang sounded despondent, something that simply sounded wrong from such a usually energetic person.

"Of course! I would be a terrible person to just refuse to help." Verdan stood up off the buggy. "I'm hoping you girls have a record of where this happened?"

Blake held up her scroll, map application open. "Got it right here."

"You're my navigator," Verdan said, pointing at Blake. "You get passenger seat. Yang, Weiss?" They looked at him in anticipation. "You two will just have to sit in the back. Hop in everyone, we don't have time to lose."

By the time they were all seated and ready to drive off, Yang seemed to have regained some of her former energy. "Go fast, Verdan! Step on it!"

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _17:07_

"Wait, wait, wait," Verdan said in an irritated voice. "Flying Grimm? _Flying_ Grimm? You neglected to mention that they flew! I can't do anything to find flying Grimm!"

The group of four had arrived at the coordinates Blake had recorded, the approximate location of Ruby's capture and the cessation of the assault. It was there that a critical piece of information was revealed to Verdan, one that had fallen by the wayside up until that point – the attack was by flying Grimm.

"We told you we were flying! What kind of Grimm did you think it was?" Weiss was incredulous. _What else could have attacked us?_

"I thought you were attacked by Catapult Stalkers or something! But flying Grimm? I can't help you there, I can't do anything!" _Catapult Stalkers?_ Weiss mouthed at Blake, only to receive a shrug in return.

"But you live here!" Yang yelled back at Verdan. "You've mentioned before you have experience in the desert, including tracking Grimm!"

"Yeah, but those are Grimm that leave tracks!" Verdan retorted hotly. "I can't trace something that doesn't exist!" He kicked the ground angrily, sending sand flying everywhere – and something that sparkled blue in the sunlight. All four of them turned to look at it, the sparkling thing catching their attention almost automatically.

Blake was the first to it and picked it up. "It's. . . a piece of Dust," she said as she held it up for them to see. "It's carved like a bullet, though."

"Wait, let me see that," Verdan said as he rushed over to her. Blake handed it over and he turned it around in his hand, examining it before closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he turned to look at Yang. "Did Ruby have my gun?" he asked intensely.

"What?" Yang asked confusedly, thrown off by Verdan's odd question.

"My rifle that I gave to Ruby. Did she have it when you were attacked?" Verdan asked quickly.

"Uh, I don't-" "Yes, she did," Weiss interrupted. "Crescent Rose ran out of ammo and she was switching to your rifle when she was abducted."

A slow smile started growing on Verdan's face before he started chuckling and spinning around, looking for something. "Clever girl! Oh clever, clever girl!"

"What is it, what are you looking for?" Blake asked him. "Why's Ruby so clever?"

"This!" Verdan said, standing still for a moment as he held the blue Dust bullet up for all to see, "is one of my Dust shots. While I'm sure there's at least one other Huntsman on Remnant who uses Dust crystal ammunition, this has been magnetized by me. It's never been used; my shots shatter when they hit something. I'm pretty sure I've never been in this area before either, or at least not dropped any ammo in the area. That leaves only one option: Ruby dropped this! She's left us a trail!"

Yang started grinning. "That's my Ruby! So, how do we find this trail, o master desert tracker?"

"I'd need to know in what direction it leads, so we need to find the next one. Everyone spread out and look for another shot like this one! It could be red, blue, yellow, white, practically any color. Just be careful not to kick sand over it or we might never find it!" Verdan directed them as he started pacing back and forth in one direction, examining the ground.

The four teens spread out in a vague circle, carefully combing the desert for the sign dropped by their lost comrade. Each took careful steps, occasionally lightly brushing the sand from side to side in case the bullet was somewhat covered up. After a couple minutes of searching, Weiss found what they were looking for. "I've got it!" she called out, holding another blue Dust crystal above her head. "It was over here!"

"Excellent! Stay right there!" Verdan called back before turning to Blake. "Blake, go stand where we found the first one!" Blake nodded and moved back closer to Verdan's dune buggy. Verdan moved to stand midway between Weiss and Blake, Yang following him.

"Alright Verdan," Yang asked him. "What's next?"

"Well," Verdan began as he held his arms up at his sides, pointing them at the other two girls and looking back and forth. "If this is a straight line, we follow it, watching for more Dust along the way. If we lose track of the trail, we backtrack until we find where we went wrong." Verdan put his arms down and pulled out his scroll, walking to Blake and then back to Weiss.

"How would we do that?" Yang asked as Verdan waved her and Blake over to himself and Weiss.

"Do what?" Weiss asked, not having overheard Verdan's previous statement.

"Lose the trail and find it again," Yang supplied, peeking over Verdan's shoulder at his scroll.

"I could probably sense it again if I got close enough," Weiss suggested offhandedly. The other three slowly looked up at her.

"You can sense Dust?" Yang asked in a confused tone.

"If I'm close enough, yes. It's an application of my Semblance that was, naturally due to my position as heiress, trained extensively," Weiss answered her, slightly falling back into her 'heiress persona' as her friends had dubbed it. "I thought I'd told you guys this before?"

"Now that I think about it, you have," Yang remembered.

"That explains why you found the bullet so easily," Blake realized, a look of sudden comprehension dawning on her face.

"Exactly." Weiss looked rather pleased with herself. "Now that I know exactly what Verdan's magnetized Dust feels like in the sand, it should be a bit easier to find if necessary."

"That answers that question, then." Verdan looked up and tossed his scroll to Weiss, who nearly fumbled it. "You're my copilot, Weiss. Let's get a move-on!" They quickly returned to his buggy and got settled in for the ride. "I've got a line drawn on that mapping app that we'll be following. I'll need you to tell me if I'm drifting off course. I'll need all three of you to watch for Dust crystals as we go, make sure the path matches the prediction. Weiss, if you could mark the map when we pass Dust crystals I'd appreciate it." Verdan punched in the start-up code and the four were off.

Their travels continued for several hours, the three girls able to spot the Dust crystals easily most of the time. Occasionally however, they did lose track and have to start from an earlier spot. Thankfully they were able to do so rather quickly when this happened and get back on track soon. In the late afternoon, the trail ended and they arrived at their destination – the lip of a canyon system. This region was not well mapped, and therefore it simply appeared as a flat tan spot on their CTS app.

"Alright, my work here is done. Here's where you girls take over, I'll be here when you get back." Verdan engaged the hand brake in the buggy and relaxed in his seat.

"You're not going with us? Ruby's your friend too!" Yang declared hotly.

"Yes, she certainly is," Verdan patiently agreed. "However, you seem to forget – I'm not training to be a Huntsman anymore. I'm staying out of this stuff."

"But it's not like you've forgotten what you've already learned!"

"You're not wrong there either, but I hardly have a high-quality weapon anymore. Plus if I go down there with you, odds are something very bad will happen. I can't help you here. I'm sorry."

Yang looked to Weiss and Blake for backup but they both shrugged. Clearly they didn't know how to convince him to help either. "Coward," Yang snarled under her breath, irritated that Verdan would sit back like that. With a glare, she hopped out of the bag of the dune buggy and set off towards the edge of the canyon and a possible way down she had noticed earlier, Weiss and Blake close behind her.

Yang was correct, there was a path down the side of the canyon there. The three girls descended to the canyon floor, Yang muttering very uncomplimentary things about Verdan under her breath practically the whole way. They looked in both directions when they reached the bottom of the ravine, unsure of where to go. "Which way should we go?" Yang asked.

"I don't know. I don't see anything that stands out in either direction," Blake answered her, sword and cleaver in hand.

"The whole system seems to extend farther in that direction," Weiss pointed out as she indicated their left side. "Odds are, those Grimm will have their nest deeper in the network." Yang and Blake looked in that direction before nodding their assent and setting off.

"Okay, now that we have a moment, has anyone else noticed how weird it was for the Grimm to kidnap Ruby like that?" Blake asked. "I've never heard of anything like that happening before."

"I have." Weiss broke the silence after a few seconds. "It was in some of the stories I found that mentioned the Grimmleal; there were a couple mentions of abduction by Grimm as well."

"You think it has anything to do with the guy we saw with the train and the White Fang last month?" Yang sounded slightly uneasy to think that they may have been targeted because of what they did, particularly that Ruby was kidnapped because of what they did.

"Maybe. I don't think there's a good way to tell one way or the other right now. Let's just find Ruby and get back out of here."

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _18:00_

"Whoa. . ." Yang trailed off, craning her neck upward to see the top. The three girls had been searching through the canyons for nearly an hour now, Verdan calling them half an hour ago to make sure everything was okay. Turning one of many corners, they had come face-to-face with what looked almost like a temple carved into the cliffside. There was an opening that served as a door, beyond which was a tunnel leading into the depths of the cliff. A sharp turn shortly after the entrance obscured what was beyond. Decoration was carved all around it, even carving pillars and the front of a roof. Statues of armored men, many times life-size, stood between the pillars. It was massive, practically as tall as the whole cliff. "What is this place?"

"It looks like some sort of temple," Weiss theorized. "You think the Grimm might have nested inside?"

"Door's big enough. Let's check it out." Yang stepped forward, pulling out her scroll and turning the flashlight on. Weiss and Blake followed her, Blake keeping watch behind them.

After a minute of walking, their footsteps started making a clanging noise that echoed – the floor was now made of metal. Looking around, the three girls could see that the tunnel was no longer carved with uneven walls, floor, and ceiling. It instead looked manufactured, with flat surfaces and right angles. The walls were made of poured concrete and patches of paint were left in spots, though the color was indiscernible because of dirt and discoloration. Metal pillars that were in surprisingly good condition reinforced the ceiling at regular intervals.

"What _is_ this place?" Yang asked in wonder.

"It looks like a modern building for the most part, but the outside looked very old and weathered. There doesn't seem to be any power in here either," Weiss pointed out, shining her flashlight at the ceiling and the translucent panels that were likely lights.

Within another minute, they reached an empty elevator shaft, with the doors pried open and several cables running down the shaft. "Do you think it's worth looking down there?" Weiss asked.

Blake looked over the edge, bracing herself against a door. "Maybe. I see light down there." 

"Does it look like sunlight or a flashlight?" Yang asked.

"I can't tell. It looks like it could be either." Blake looked back up. "I say we go."

"Yes, let's." Yang walked up to the doors as Blake moved away, grabbing an elevator cable and tugging on it to ensure its safety. Satisfied of its security, Yang grabbed the cable and slowly slid down it. Blake followed her and Weiss created a series of platforms on which to jump. They exited the shaft onto the landing from which the light hand been shining, the actual elevator still far below them.

When the reached the bottom they were in another hallway with several others branching off to either side, as well as doors with some sort of scanner by the handles, similar to the scroll readers they had on their dorm doors back at Beacon. The hallway was in a similar style as the one they had just come from, except that the floor was concrete instead of metal. One of the hallways yards down and to the right had light spilling from it, giving the three girls enough light to make out their surroundings without their flashlights.

Weiss jiggled the handle of the door nearest to them. The handle was rusty and so required some force to move properly. The door would not pull open no matter how much she tried, though. "Must be deadbolted." She gave up and stepped back.

"Nah, you're just a wimp." Yang chuckled and took Weiss's spot, tugging at the door. "It's probably just rusty." She pulled at the door to no avail. Even holding onto the handle and throwing her weight back or trying to push off the door frame with her leg did nothing. Until the handle snapped and let her collapse to the ground like a sack of potatoes, that is. "On second thought," Yang groaned as she got up, "you may be right."

Weiss passed her scroll in front of the scanner next to the handle, seeing if it would trigger something. There was nothing. No beep, no red light, nothing. "There's no power, Weiss." Blake sounded faintly amused. "What did you expect to happen?"

"I know there's no power!" Weiss was more than faintly indignant. "I just wanted to see if something would happen, if these had Dust built into them instead of running off a central source."

"What do you say we go check out that light?" Yang pointed to the lit-up hallway, disrupting Weiss and Blake's discussion before it could escalate. "That might be sunlight, which means the Grimm might have their nest there."

"If you don't mind," Blake slowly began talking, "I'd actually like to explore some of the rest of this place first. While I do think this is likely where the Grimm are nesting, listen." She cupped a hand to one of her cat ears underneath her bow to emphasize her point. "It's quiet. Don't you think we'd hear the Grimm and/or Ruby? For some reason, I don't think they're back yet. Until they do get back, we might as well spend our time looking around. Who knows, this place looks faintly military. There's a slight chance we find some sort of forgotten weapon that could help us."

Yang slowly nodded, dragging a hand down her face and sighing. "Yeah, guess you've got a point. We can't go charging in to save Ruby if she's not there, can we?" She started chuckling, which Weiss and Blake quickly realized was becoming quiet crying. Blake immediately began comforting Yang, hugging her and talking to her.

"Hey, calm down. It's going to work out great. As soon as the Grimm get here, we will rescue Ruby. If we have to slaughter every Grimm in that swarm, we will do it. Do you hear me Yang?" Yang looked up, sniffling and wiping her face.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm good." Yang breathed in deeply and let it out. "You're right. Until we can save Ruby, let's go exploring."

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _18:08_

Verdan was starting to get a little worried. About five minutes previously, all three of his friends signals had disappeared from the team tracker on his scroll (they had re-added him to the system when they were leaving the airfield). He wasn't sure what had happened, but odds are it wasn't good. Now he was struggling between the desire to go find out and possibly help and the knowledge that if he went down there, something bad would almost certainly happen if it hadn't already.

 _If I go help, somebody's likely to die,_ Verdan thought to himself. _Every other time I've gotten involved in a situation out of the ordinary it's happened. I can't have someone else's blood on my hands._

 _Quit your pity party,_ a more logical voice in his head countered. _Nobody's died because of you, Nicole and Leo made their own choices. And you were training to be a huntsman, of course there's a risk!_ Verdan sighed, he supposed he was right. _Look, at least one of your friends needs your help and possibly three others. Even though you're not training as a huntsman anymore, you still can fight!_

Verdan hopped out of the driver seat, pocketing the key. He walked around to the cargo bin in the back, opening the lid and pulling out a small metal shaft about a foot long and a metal plate about one by two feet. Giving each a quick flick, they extended into a six-foot spear and a four-foot tall tower shield, each dark gray with blue paint stripes along the top and bottom of the shield. _Guess I_ _should_ _do something._

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _18:26_

Verdan slid down the elevator cables, tower shield strapped to his back and spear in his hand. The last known coordinates of Weiss, Blake, and Yang had led him to this underground facility. The outside and inside looked incredibly anachronistic. _I'll have to tell Dad about this place, he'd love to get a team here,_ he noted. _This place can't be too old, else these cables at least would have rusted out._

When Verdan reached the top of the elevator, he let go of the cables and looked around. There had been a floor with what looked like natural light, but Verdan had decided to investigate from the bottom up, reducing the chances of his possibly missing the girls. A foot or so above his head was a landing for what looked like it might be the lowest floor. Verdan retracted the spear and clipped it to his belt, freeing his hands to pull himself up onto the landing and out into the hallway.

Verdan began walking down the hallway, weapons held at the ready. He tried opening several doors, finding them locked. Inducing magnetic fields in the deadbolt and frame to repel each other was child's play, but there was nothing interesting so far. Every room had simply been a bunkroom, if the many bed frames in them was any indication. There weren't any mattresses but there were several spots that looked uncomfortably like old bloodstains.

Eventually Verdan gave up on checking the rooms and simply walked down the hallways. There was no sign of anyone else so he returned to a stairwell he had previously found. It turns out this was not quite the lowest level, there was at least one more floor below him. However, the stairs had collapsed and were covered with debris, leaving him with only the option to go up.

The next floor wasn't much different except for the fact that there were fewer doors up here than below, indicating the rooms were larger. There were no windows in these doors either and the signs had faded and cracked enough that they were illegible. Verdan didn't bother opening any of these doors either, merely checking if they were locked or not. If they weren't already unlocked then his friends certainly weren't inside.

Suddenly, the sound of a bouncing rock echoed down the hallway, followed shortly after by indistinct whispering. Verdan readied his weapons, holding his shield up and his spear pulled back. He slowly walked towards the next corner, the source of the noises. He reached the corner, slowly breathed in and out, and dashed around the corner – slamming his shield into Blake Belladonna by accident.

"What the heck?" Blake's voice was a mix of irritation and lack of air as she picked herself up off the ground. "You just decide to run into me for the fun of it?" _Man that hurt!_ By that point, Yang and Weiss had run up to the two after waiting behind for Blake to scout ahead.

"What was that noise?" Verdan collapsed his shield and strapped it to his back but kept his spear out.

"I uh, tripped over a chunk of debris," Yang slowly admitted, looking around in embarrassment.

"And the whispering?"

"That was likely Weiss yelling at me," Yang responded, getting over her embarrassment. "On a completely different note, what are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to get involved?"

Verdan sighed. "Your signals disappeared from the team tracker; I didn't know what might have happened. I decided that, even though something bad is almost certainly going to happen now, I might at least be able to help you three if you were in a bad situation already." He straightened up, his voice sounding much less depressed. "Seeing this place, I guess your signal just cut out from interference. What is this?"

"It seems like some sort of military base," Weiss answered. "I've had to tour various Atlas facilities as Schnee heiress and this looks pretty similar, only in one facility instead of several buildings."

"That actually makes sense,"

"Are you implying I normally don't?" Weiss interjected, sounding rather insulted.

"No, I'm not," Verdan continued, "And I was about to ask if you three have had any luck finding the Grimm or Ruby?"

"No, nothing." Yang looked both sad and mad. "We did see what might be their nest, but it was silent so we decided to clear the rest of this place while we wait for them to get back."

"Wait, you never actually saw the nest?" The three girls glanced at each other before shaking their heads 'no'. "And you never thought to look anyways? Maybe they were asleep."

Yang dropped her head in shame as Weiss facepalmed. "We're idiots," Blake said, summing up all three's thoughts. After a moment of stewing in their own juices, Yang shook her head and looked back up.

"Well come on then, let's get going!" Yang ran to the staircase, Blake, Verdan, and Weiss right behind her. They took the steps two at a time, eager to get their friend back as soon as possible.

 **D Insert Scene Break Here D**

 _18:41_

"What in the world?" Weiss was incredibly confused, as were they all. They had expected to charge into either an empty room or a room filled with sleeping Grimm. What they had gotten was neither. It was instead half a dining hall, suddenly terminating in a barrier of the deepest black. There was a large hole in the ceiling in the middle of what room was there, leading to the surface – that was the source of the sunlight.

Verdan and Yang walked up to the barricade, Verdan leaning in close to get a good look at it. "Hey, can I see your spear for a second?" Yang asked him. He nodded, extending it and handing it over to her. Yang took it and bounced it in her hand, appearing to get a feel for its weight. She then turned to face the barrier before slamming Verdan's spear into it with both hands several times, producing a clanging noise each time.

"Whoa whoa whoa what the heck?" Verdan fell backwards at the first strike and scrambled backwards on his behind to get away. "You didn't tell me you were going to do that!" Yang shrugged and tossed him his spear back. Verdan closely examined the tip. "Well at least it's not bent or broken. But seriously, what were you doing?"

"Testing this thing's strength. Answer: very." Yang turned around to face them. "Anyone else got an idea?"

"I think so," Blake said slowly. "I think I've seen this before. It looks like the same field that was around your cage when you got captured, Verdan. Remember that?"

"Yeah, hard to forget. When you and Sun busted me out of there and there was that giant mech involved?"

"Exactly that. So if this is the same thing, then who's putting them up and what's behind this one?" Blake asked.

Verdan walked back up to the barrier again. He started poking at it and put his ear right against it. After a moment, he collapsed his spear and stuck it to his belt before putting his face right in front of the barrier, cupping his hands around his eyes to shield them from the light. "Well, they certainly seem to be the same thing. That barrier was impenetrable to sight and sound, and this one seems to be the same. If the Grimm are somehow on the other side, that would explain why you didn't-" The barrier dropped and Verdan was staring down the barrel of a semiautomatic Dust rifle.

The four quickly readied their weapons, facing down a line of gunmen in black and red clothes and armor, white helmets obscuring their faces. "Who are you?" Weiss demanded. When no answer was forthcoming, Weiss continued. "Whoever you are, are you sure you wish to stand in our way? We are searching for our missing friend. If you obstruct us, those who help us will know where to concentrate their efforts. Knowing that, do you still wish to block us from continuing?" Yang cocked her gauntlets to emphasize Weiss's words.

A female voice spoke up from behind the line of gunmen. "Now now, everybody. Calm down and lower your weapons, there's no need for violence! We can just talk like civilized people." Yang, Weiss, and Blake quickly lowered their weapons and relaxed from their battle stances, though they seemed not to realize their compliance with the mysterious order. Verdan had dropped from his battle stance too, though he seemed more stunned than truly relaxed.

The gunmen also lowered their weapons and the line split down the middle to reveal a tall girl who appeared the same age as Yang and the others, hands on her hips. She wore black and red coveralls with purple and gold accents. On her back and arms was a metal framework of some kind, with black cables running down the back of her arms to her gauntlets. Her black hair was rather short and her pale eyes were unsettling.

Just behind the girl was a man equally tall, hands held behind his back. His shirt and pants had similar designs as the girl's clothes. In addition to this, he had white armor on his torso and arms. He also had a helmet and mask designed as a stylized skull and a sword on his hip.

Scattered throughout the rest of the room, behind the two strangers, were various people in various types of clothing, all with the same color scheme of black, red, purple, and white. There was one noticeable spot of red and black, though, amongst the rest: Ruby was there, slumped against one wall, head down. Two men, apparently soldiers, stood on either side of her, guns held at the ready.

"Excellent, you're all here. Now, if you would like to start this discussion off right, you three can take at least ten steps away from who is mine!" The girl said cheerfully.

"Who is. . . Who are you and why do you have my sister?" Yang angrily yelled back.

"What – but – how – you're," Verdan stuttered several times. He kept trying to start a sentence but could never find the words to continue it.

"Oh, have I not introduced myself? I'm sorry, how remiss of me. My name is Nicole Tesla, it is a pleasure to meet you three!" The girl clasped her hands in front of her excitedly.

 **Authors Note: Wow, this is certainly late isn't it? Partially as an apology, this is about 50% longer than most of my chapters at least. Part of the reason this is so late is because I had a concept for another story, a shorter story, that I wanted to write out completely before I continued this. Unfortunately, inspiration petered out after the first couple chapters back in late February, so I returned to Ancient Wonders. This chapter has been in the works since then.**

 **I really wanted to make a Jurassic World reference at the part when Verdan finds out the Grimm were flying. Y'know, the quote about "I was in the Navy, not the Navajo!" Unfortunately, Verdan's not one to see movies so he couldn't make the reference, and the only one from RWBY to make the reference who was present would have been Yang, who wasn't exactly in a state to make references. I was able to slip in a Jurassic Park reference since it works as a normal phrase and not a reference, though!**

 **CTS means "CCTS Triangulation System" which means "Cross-Continental Transmit System Triangulation System." Isn't acronym-ception fun? Since they don't have space capability, they can't have satellites, meaning they can't have GPS. This is the most likely option for their location system.**

 **Verdan's not crazy near the end, when he's having a conversation with himself. That's just him weighing his two viewpoints as a conversation. What, you've never done that?**

 **I realized that I never explained team FLMR's naming scheme when I introduced them. Well here ya go:**

 **Flynn Wagoner is named for the red Radio Flyer wagons, "Flynn" sounding similar to "flying".**

 **Maggie Abel is named after the Magic Eight Ball, which is always black. This is also why she was the one to give Verdan advice a few chapters ago.**

 **Lee Goate is named after "Lego", which are well-known for being quite colorful.**

 **R. Meman is named for "army men", which are nearly always green. I'm still not quite satisfied with her name, though. That might be adjusted.**

 **As you can probably tell, their name theme is toys.**

 **Thanks to AndyH and AfiddlingSnail for beta reading.**


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